ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — An official from the coalition praised on Monday the progress made with Peshmerga reforms in the Kurdistan Region and the joint Iraqi-Kurdistan coordination in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS).
“We’ve seen a great amount of planning, and movement forward, everybody’s on board, right now this is a really high point, between the Peshmerga reform, establishment of joint coordination centers [with Iraqi forces], establishment of joint forces, we’re very happy with the progress being made here,” Col. David Williams, the Director of the Coalition’s Kurdish Coordination Center told Rudaw on Monday.
“I’m very optimistic with the change that I’m seeing … we’re seeing real progress,” Williams added.
He noted the coalition is “limited in supporting just the ministry of Peshmerga and some MOI [Ministry of Interior] units with equipment and providing stipends and we’ll continue just to provide that to the ministry of Peshmerga.”
The United States has provided funding and equipment for the Peshmerga as part of the campaign to defeat ISIS, but the assistance is for brigades of the ministry, not for politically-affiliated forces.
The two units that make up the majority of the Peshmerga forces, numbering over 100,000 troops, are controlled by political parties. Unit 70 forces belong to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Unit 80 forces are controlled by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Williams spoke at a ceremony marking the ending of a three-month training course of Peshmerga brigades’ Unit 80.
The Commander of the KDP’s Unit 80, Najat Ali, told Rudaw on Monday during the ceremony the course was - “one: training and military education, two: it’s to prepare for the unifying Peshmerga forces under the ministry of Peshmerga.”
“We have prepared two brigades so far, we are busy with administrative work so that their works will be done and be transferred to the ministry of Peshmerga,” Ali added.
“It’s a detailed process, it needs detailed administrative work, otherwise there isn’t much problem and barrier, and I think we will soon transfer all of our forces onto the ministry of Peshmerga,” he stated.
Since the territorial defeat of the ISIS in late 2017, international coalition partners have pushed for the unification of Kurdish forces under the Peshmerga ministry as part of a reform program that began in 2018. US, German, and British military advisers are assisting with the restructuring.
Last month, Mustafa Chawrash, commander of the PUK’s Unit 70, said they were ready to coordinate and work as a team, but action is yet to be seen.
The Minister of Peshmerga in an interview aired on June 17 said a united Peshmerga force will be created, but first trust needs to be built between them.
As the fight against ISIS continues, Erbil and Baghdad reached an agreement in May for the joint deployment of forces in the security void between their areas of control where ISIS exploit the absence of both Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
Since then, multiple Joint Coordination Centers have been established.
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