Peshmerga frontline medical care suffers from shortages

 

By Hannah Lynch and Rekar Aziz

 
BASHIQA - An estimated 1,700 Peshmerga have died on the frontlines of the war with ISIS.

Before the Mosul offensive began, the medical department of the Peshmerga ministry appealed for help from the international community, as the Kurdish soldiers were in urgent need of medical help. 

In June, Maj. Gen. Muhsin Rasheed, director of the department, told Rudaw that many of the Peshmerga deaths could have been prevented if there were proper medical facilities on the frontlines to treat the soldiers at the time of injury. 

We visited the frontline this week where Rasheed said the situation had improved some, but not enough.  

The international coalition has provided some assistance, he said. Germany sent five ambulances. German, Canadian and French medical staff are working with the Peshmerga on some fronts. Several countries have offered free medical care for seriously injured Peshmerga. 

But the services they can provide are too little; they do not compare with the standard care soldiers from developed countries receive. 

Rasheed would like to see a field hospital on every frontline to prevent needless Peshmerga deaths.

But the services they can provide are too little; they do not compare with the standard care soldiers from developed countries receive.