German Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen stated on Friday that Germany will send more heavy weapons and ammo to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting Islamic State (IS) in northern Iraq.
According to German Der Spiegel Magazine, the Peshmerga will receive 4,000 G36 assault rifles and six million rounds of ammunition. Weapons shipments to the Peshmerga include 200 Milan anti-tank missiles and six Dingo armoured personnel carriers, as well as spare parts for Kurdish–operated Dingos already in use.
The Peshmerga have received 16,000 G3 and G36 assault rifles, 8,000 pistols, 40 heavy machine guns and 10,000 hand grenades since autumn 2014.
On Friday, the German Defence Minister told Bild Newspaper that Germany has decided to continue arming the Peshmerga because “they know how to handle weapons they get from Germany… the Kurds have showed themselves as a successful and effective ground force against the barbaric Islamic State.”
In December 2015, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated in a press conference in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region, that the Peshmerga “value German weapons highly”, and he promised that Germany will send further military aid to the Kurdistan Region.
basnews.com
