ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Peshmerga brigades 14 and 16 were handed military aid and equipment from the US-led coalition forces in a ceremony attended by the peshmerga minister on Tuesday.
Peshmerga minister Shorsh Ismael called the day of the ceremony “historic”, and expressed gratitude to the coalition forces for their ongoing support.
“As the ministry of Peshmerga, we consider the role of the American military… of great importance, and will work to further improve our relationship,” he said at the ceremony in Bahirka, just north of the city of Erbil.
“This aid and collaboration is evidence of our efforts toward reform in the Peshmerga ministry,” Ismael said in reference to an ongoing reform project.
The minister’s speech was followed by remarks from Brigadier General E John Teichert, senior defense official and defense attache to the US Embassy in Baghdad, who addressed the importance of the Peshmerga's collaboration with the Coalition forces.
“These warehouses are filled with equipments, weapons, vehicles, radios that will make the ministry of peshmerga even more effective than it already is,” he said.
Teichert also showed support and hope for the ongoing ministry reforms.
“We continue to fight against the determined adversary that seems to harm us and harm our way of life,” he said. “The only way that can succeed against that adversary, to prevent stagnation, and to improve readiness is to continue to aggressively pursue reform.”
“We look forward to continued reports about the aggressive reform taking place in the Ministry of the Peshmerga,” he added.
The aid for the two brigades was part of a 30-point reform project within the Ministry of Peshmerga in collaboration with Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, all major members of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh (Islamic State).
“That project is also ongoing, some points are currently in the process of adaptation, and some others require a political collaboration to start. Among these points are turning salaries into an electronic system that will be paid through banks. Another one is reorganization of the different brigades. In the following days, two more brigades of the Peshmerga forces will be armed with the help of the Coalition forces,” Major-General Bakhtyar Muhammed, military advisor and member of the senior reform board in the Ministry of Peshmerga told Rudaw’s Shahyan Tahseen on Sunday.
