Italy and Germany Sending Arms and Ammunition to the Kurds

Last week Italian government sent 30 tons of ammunitions and weapons to Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdish Peshmerga Commander Fereydoon Jwanroyi has said that Italy anti-tank weapons have been received at the Khazir front in northern Iraq. “Peshmerga fighters have been receiving training on how to use the weapons,” he said. “Some fighters have finished the training and a new group has started,” added Jwanroyi. The weapons are expected to be employed against the extremists soon.

The new Italian anti-tank given to Peshmerga forces

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni recently confirmed that 280 Italian military advisors will arrive in the Kurdistan Region to train Peshmerga. 35 have arrived so far.

He also said that 23 Italian planes carrying humanitarian and military aid have been sent to the Kurdistan Region via Baghdad in recent months.

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Germany's government has agreed to send 13 million euros ($14.7 million) worth of military support to Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq.

An announcement released by the German Defense Ministry detailed the arms that will be sent, including 30 anti-tank missiles, 500 additional missiles, 200 bazookas, 4000 Kalashnikov (AK-47) rifles, and 10,000 grenades.

German military experts instruct Kurdish Peshmerga fighters during training at a shooting range in Erbil last October. AFP photo. - See more at: http://rudaw.net/mobile/english/world/11012015#sthash.aDtAGPYl.dpuf

The weapons are intended to aid Peshmerga forces in combating Islamic State (IS) militants, who are still in control of territory south of the Kurdistan region.

In a Friday press conference in Berlin with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed her country’s commitment to arming Kurdish forces fighting IS militants in Iraq.

Peshmerga forces received a 70 million euro ($79.5 million) shipment of arms from Germany last year, and Germany’s parliament recently approved the deployment of 100 advisers to the Kurdistan region.