US financial aid will be given directly to Peshmerga ministry: official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A top Peshmerga ministry official says financial assistance provided by the American government will be handed directly to the Peshmerga ministry to pay the salaries of the Peshmerga units under its control.

“The international coalition to defeat Daesh (Arabic acronym for the Islamic State or ISIS) is helping the Peshmerga forces with equipment, as well as financial and moral support in the fight against Daesh,” Major-General Bakhtyar Muhammed, military advisor and member of the senior reform board in the Ministry of Peshmerga said in a Monday interview with Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman.

“The financial assistance will be directly given to the ministry from this month in a bank account opened for the Ministry of Peshmerga. This assistance will pay the salaries of the brigades of the Peshmerga ministry,” 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 fighters.

The United States Department of Defense officially gave $12.5 million worth of military aid to Peshmerga forces at Erbil International Airport earlier this month.  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 ISIS remnants

Peshmerga forces have consistently fought the terror group since it took swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, and are a key ally for the coalition. At least 1,700 Peshmerga fighters were killed and around 10,000 injured in the fight against ISIS from 2014 onwards.

ISIS remnants continue to remain active, particularly in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.

Two well-informed Peshmerga sources from the ministry confirmed to Rudaw English on Monday 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 70 and 80 Brigades, controlled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) respectively.

The Peshmerga Ministry has 14 brigades under its command that are supposed to be apolitical and serve the ministry. The US government has often provided assistance in forms of weaponry and stipends to the Peshmerga ministry, some of which has gone to the politically-affiliated units.

"The KRG officials told the Americans that the funds have been given to the Ministry of Finance to be added to the KRG income in order to pay the salaries of the civil servants," said another source within the ministry.

"The Americans met with KRG officials last month and questioned what happened to the funds provided for the joint Peshmerga brigades,” they added. 

The new arrangement will only include the 14 joint brigades training centers in Duhok, Sulaimani and Erbil. 

Recent reforms have taken place within the ministry, including the restructuring of ministry employee and Peshmerga pensions.

Muhammed added that the ministry’s reform process “needs political support” from the parties of the Kurdistan Region and cooperative efforts “especially from the PUK and PDK.”