KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region—The United States has started training two Peshmerga brigades who will be later armed and deployed near Kirkuk, a Kurdish military official said. Halgurd Hikmat, a spokesman for the Peshmerga Ministry told Rudaw that the training started on Sunday and will last 10 weeks. Hikmat revealed that the two brigades will be armed and equipped by the US once the training is completed. The Peshmerga Ministry said last month that several thousand Peshmerga soldiers will participate in the training program. The United States Consul General in Erbil, Matthias Mitman, confirmed the news in an interview with Rudaw earlier this month. “We are in the process of now training two brigades which is over 4,000 Peshmerga. We are going to equip these brigades with the full set of equipment including light weapons, heavy weapons, machine guns, ammunition, all the logistical support they need including Humvees, MRAPs,” he said. “This will provide greater capabilities for these Peshmerga and these trainings have already started. We expect this to continue through the spring,” Mitman added. Other coalition military advisors among them German and Italians are training the Peshmerga in urben warfare at various camps in Erbil province.
