Klaus Streicher, the German consul to Erbil, speaking to Rudaw on October 5, 2023. Photo: Rudaw/screengrab
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Germany’s consul to Erbil on Thursday expressed hope that his country’s parliament decides on extending its military mandate in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region "very soon,” telling Rudaw that the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) remains “important.”
The German government in September submitted a motion to the Bundestag (parliament) to extend its military mandate in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region by an additional year, continuing its assistance in training and advising armed forces in the fight against ISIS.
The parliament is yet to decide on the extension.
"The mandate as such is very important because ISIS is still a threat, and it still needs collective efforts to fight ISIS and to push them back," Klaus Streicher, the German consul to Erbil, told Rudaw’s Halabja Sadoun on Thursday.
Streicher expressed hope the Bundestag makes a decision on the extension soon, noting that the process towards that end has been progressing “on the right way.”
“The parliament is deciding on its own responsibility and I cannot predict what the parliament is deciding, but what I hear from the political debate before the decision is: It is going on the right way.”
The additional operational expenses of extending the mandate will amount to around €91.6 million (approx. $98.4 million), according to a statement from the German government.
Germany has been an essential member of the global coalition against ISIS. The Coalition was formally established in October 2014, after ISIS took control of vast swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria. Consisting of 84 nations, the US-led Coalition’s mission has been “degrading and ensuring Daesh’s enduring defeat,” it says on its website, using Arabic acronym for the extremist group.
ISIS swept through large parts of Iraq in 2014, seizing vast swathes of land and committing countless atrocities, including genocide. The group was territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to pose serious security risks in the country though hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, particularly in the disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil.
Weapons provided by Germany, especially the guided anti-tank MILAN missiles, were very essential in Peshmerga forces’ fight against the terror group.
The combat mission of the US-led Coalition ended in Iraq at the end of 2021 and the German army has mostly been based in the Kurdistan Region.
The German government in September submitted a motion to the Bundestag (parliament) to extend its military mandate in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region by an additional year, continuing its assistance in training and advising armed forces in the fight against ISIS.
The parliament is yet to decide on the extension.
"The mandate as such is very important because ISIS is still a threat, and it still needs collective efforts to fight ISIS and to push them back," Klaus Streicher, the German consul to Erbil, told Rudaw’s Halabja Sadoun on Thursday.
Streicher expressed hope the Bundestag makes a decision on the extension soon, noting that the process towards that end has been progressing “on the right way.”
“The parliament is deciding on its own responsibility and I cannot predict what the parliament is deciding, but what I hear from the political debate before the decision is: It is going on the right way.”
The additional operational expenses of extending the mandate will amount to around €91.6 million (approx. $98.4 million), according to a statement from the German government.
Germany has been an essential member of the global coalition against ISIS. The Coalition was formally established in October 2014, after ISIS took control of vast swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria. Consisting of 84 nations, the US-led Coalition’s mission has been “degrading and ensuring Daesh’s enduring defeat,” it says on its website, using Arabic acronym for the extremist group.
ISIS swept through large parts of Iraq in 2014, seizing vast swathes of land and committing countless atrocities, including genocide. The group was territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to pose serious security risks in the country though hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, particularly in the disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil.
Weapons provided by Germany, especially the guided anti-tank MILAN missiles, were very essential in Peshmerga forces’ fight against the terror group.
The combat mission of the US-led Coalition ended in Iraq at the end of 2021 and the German army has mostly been based in the Kurdistan Region.
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