ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Netherlands will extend their training mission in Iraq, as part of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State (ISIS), through to the end of 2017, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday.
“The training provided by the coalition to Iraqi and Kurdish units has proved to be of great value. But as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence and the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation have affirmed, the fight is not over yet,” reads a statement on the ministry’s website.
“The Netherlands will therefore continue to provide military training in Iraq.”
Brett McGurk, US presidential envoy to the global anti-ISIS coalition, welcomed the Netherlands’s announcement on his Twitter.
He stated that 6,500 Iraqi security personnel are being trained by coalition partners this week, and more than 30,000 have been trained to date, and commended their success on the battlefields.
“Iraqi Security Forces have not lost a single engagement against #ISIL in the past 12 months. Momentum now building for #Mosul,” he tweeted.
The Dutch military has also pledged to continue participating in the air campaign against ISIS where they provide protection for Belgian F-16s, and they have committed a tanker aircraft to carry out air-to-air refueling of fighter jets.
The Netherlands has trained Peshmerga troops and supplied equipment such as radios, bomb disposal equipment, helmets, and vests.
Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, visited the Kurdistan Region in August and met with Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.
“The training provided by the coalition to Iraqi and Kurdish units has proved to be of great value. But as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defence and the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation have affirmed, the fight is not over yet,” reads a statement on the ministry’s website.
“The Netherlands will therefore continue to provide military training in Iraq.”
Brett McGurk, US presidential envoy to the global anti-ISIS coalition, welcomed the Netherlands’s announcement on his Twitter.
He stated that 6,500 Iraqi security personnel are being trained by coalition partners this week, and more than 30,000 have been trained to date, and commended their success on the battlefields.
“Iraqi Security Forces have not lost a single engagement against #ISIL in the past 12 months. Momentum now building for #Mosul,” he tweeted.
The Dutch military has also pledged to continue participating in the air campaign against ISIS where they provide protection for Belgian F-16s, and they have committed a tanker aircraft to carry out air-to-air refueling of fighter jets.
The Netherlands has trained Peshmerga troops and supplied equipment such as radios, bomb disposal equipment, helmets, and vests.
Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, visited the Kurdistan Region in August and met with Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment