IRAQI KURDISH REGION RECEIVES WEAPONS FROM US-LED WESTERN COUNTRIES

Erbil, Iraq, 15 Dzulqa’dah 1435/10 September 2014 (MINA) – Weapons from the U.S., France and Germany were received by Kurdish peshmerga forces in northern Iraq, Peshmerga Minister Mustafa Qadir said.

The three countries had recently pledged to provide the peshmarga forces with arms to aid in their fight against Islamic State (IS) militants, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), recently managed to capture large swathes of Iraq and Syria, triggering an international outcry.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Iraqi government troops have, with U.S. air support, recently made slow but steady progress in areas held by the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, the U.K. will also send heavy weapons and ammunition aid worth [2.58 billion dollars] to the Iraqi government, as well as the Kurdish peshmerga forces, the U.K.’s Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said.

Fallon, emphasizing that the Islamic State is an international threat, said the U.K. was intent on joining international efforts to fight against the Islamic State.

Secretary General of the Peshmerga Ministry Jabbar Yawar confirmed the U.K. military aid.

“A military delegation from the U.K. gives training to peshmerga forces for the use of high-technology weapons. After this training, the U.K. will send weapons for the peshmerga to use,” Yawar said in an online statement. (T/P001/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)