ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Germany’s defense minister visited a German-run Peshmerga military training base in Erbil on Friday, solidifying her country’s logistical support for the Peshmerga and promising their Tornado reconnaissance planes will participate in the looming Mosul offensive.
During her visit to Erbil, Ursula von der Leyen visited Bnaslawa training base in Erbil where she met with Peshmerga officials and soldiers receiving training from German trainers.
“Until now, we have armed 10,000 Peshmerga soldiers and we continue to supply the Peshmerga with logistical needs,” she said, adding that her country, as a member of the US-led coalition and via “Tornado warplanes will take part in the battle for Mosul and help the Peshmerga forces.”
Von der Leyen also attended a military show put on by the Peshmerga exhibiting urban warfare skills they have learned from German trainers.
Some 10,000 Peshmerga soldiers have received military training from 1,100 German military personnel, commanders, and academics.
Germany has also provided €90 million in military aid to the Kurdistan Region as part of “the common war against the Islamic State.”
The German defense minister also revealed on Friday in a joint press conference with Kurdish President Masoud Barzani in Erbil that her country’s military trainers would expand their training programmes for the Peshmerga forces and move closer to the frontlines to “save time and be more efficient.”
In July, Germany opened two military training centres near Erbil. The training centre German Village includes buildings, tunnel systems, and a river built on the training grounds to simulate real-life conditions the Peshmerga forces may face in combat, which “prepares Kurdish security forces for any kind of situation,” Colonel Frank Wasgindt, commander of the German contingent providing training in Kurdistan, said during the centre's inauguration.
The second training centre, Ghost House, includes areas specialized for training in urban warfare, Wasgindt said.
Germany is one of the few countries supplying the Kurdish troops directly through Erbil and not through the Iraqi central government in Baghdad.
In December, the German parliament voted to join the US-led coalition fighting ISIS, including contributing six Tornado reconnaissance jets and up to 1,200 military personnel. Germany does not, however, carry out airstrikes.
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