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Kurdistan
Peshmerga fighters at the Bnaslawa Training Center in the Kurdistan Region on Feb 26, 2020. Photo: Operation Inherent Resolve
After publication, a senior official from the prime minister’s office responded to this article. That response is included below.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Around 30,000 Peshmerga fighters in the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga ministry have gone unpaid for nearly two months due to US and coalition disapproval over the presence of politically-affiliated Peshmerga brigades, a senior official has claimed.
“The situation of the Peshmerga forces is really bad. They have not been paid for over 50 days. The government is playing a mental game with them, telling them they will get three salaries at once, then saying they will get two, but they have had none,” a senior Peshmerga official told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
“We have not been paid for 58 days now. How do you think our lives are, since we rely mainly on that salary?” a Peshmerga fighter from the ministry’s Brigade One, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Rudaw English on Wednesday.
There are around 30,000 Peshmerga fighters in 13 brigades who receive their salaries from US funding.
“Peshmerga officials often say that the reason salaries are delayed is because the money has not been transferred to the ministry’s bank account due to a technical problem from the American side. That is not true,” the source said, claiming the real reason for the delay is US and coalition disapproval of partisan forces.
“America and the coalition forces are upset at the Ministry of Peshmerga as they have asked them to form a united apolitical force on many occasions, but there have been no developments.”
“There are political disagreements between Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) when it comes to Peshmerga forces,” he added.
The US has provided military and financial aid, as well as training, to Peshmerga forces since 2014. It previously paid the KRG $20 million each month to pay the salaries of Peshmerga forces, which Rudaw English’s source said was also not distributed properly as party-affiliated Peshmerga forces also were paid from the funds, leading to a pay cut for apolitical brigades.
The United States Department of Defense officially gave $12.5 million worth of military aid to Peshmerga forces at Erbil International Airport in January. Vehicles were to be directly given to brigades under ministerial command, and not political parties, the coalition confirmed, saying the aid will be used in the fight against Islamic State (ISIS) remnants.
Two well-informed Peshmerga sources from the ministry confirmed to Rudaw English in January that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been informed by the Americans that the money they provide is for the joint brigades of the Peshmerga Ministry and not for politically-affiliated forces such as the 70 and 80 Brigades, controlled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) respectively.
“The problem will soon be fixed Inshallah (God willing),” Deputy Minister of Peshmerga Sarbast Lazgin said on Wednesday, refusing to give any further comment on the matter.
Rudaw English has also reached out to the US Consulate in Erbil, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Recent reforms have taken place within the ministry, including the restructuring of ministry employee and Peshmerga pensions.
On Thursday, a senior official from the office of Prime Minister Masrour Barzani responded to this article, stating, “The KRG has not yet received stipends for the integrated brigades. This is a technical issue linked to a change of US administrations. It is outside of KRG’s control.”
“We’re working closely with our U.S. partners to secure the stipend payments as soon as possible,” he added.
Updated at 3:16, March 25, 2021
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