The German army’s training role in Iraq will be extended through January 2018, pending approval by German legislature, and Germany’s engagement will be reviewed, and modified if necessary, the German Consulate in Erbil announced on Wednesday.
The German army mission aims to improve the capabilities of the Iraqi armed forces and Kurdish forces, the statement added.
“Since 2015, the German army and its international partners have already trained more than 12,000 members of the security forces in northern Iraq,” it added. “The German government attaches great importance to ensuring that all population groups in the region are trained.”
Germany is one of the few countries supplying the Kurdish troops directly through Erbil and not through the Iraqi central government in Baghdad.
Germany opened two military training centers in Erbil in 2016: “German Village” and “Ghost House.”
Additionally, Germany had sent about $100 million of military aid to Iraq including rifles, anti-tank missiles, armored bombs, armored vehicles, and ammunition, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen revealed in September 2016.
Rudaw reported earlier this week that 15 Peshmerga and officers were receiving training from the German military for protection against chemical attack at the Ordensburg Sontofen compound in Germany, with about 80 more undergoing training in Sulaimania.
Wednesday’s statement stressed that ISIS remains a threat to peace and security, in spite of successes achieved recently in Mosul.
“Terrorist attacks in Europe, like the recent attack in Berlin, make this clear,” the statement emphasized. “The international community must thus continue its engagement in the fight against IS in order to stabilize Iraq in the long term.”
Twelve Germans were killed and 56 others injured when a Tunisian national used a truck to run over victims celebrating at a Christmas market inside Berlin on Dec. 19, 2016.
