WASHINGTON DC—German Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it would send a mission of 100 soldiers to the Kurdistan Region to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces, a move viewed by the US as a welcome contribution to the war against the Islamic State (ISIS).
“A political agreement has been reached among the relevant ministries on a training mission,” German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told journalists following a meeting between his country’s defense, foreign and interior ministers.
“Our goal is now to take the final decision by the cabinet before the Christmas break,” said Schaefer.
He added that the training will also include Yezidi and Christian forces, who have taken up arms against ISIS in their areas in Iraq’s Nineveh province.
The US government welcomed the announcement from Berlin as a contribution to the international effort against the extremist group.
“Well, certainly I think contributions on the military front are something that we expect to continue. Obviously, contributions in terms of training – and we certainly thank Germany for their contribution in that regard – are part of that effort,” State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told journalists.
Germany has been a major supplier of arms to the Kurds and a number of Kurdish Peshmerga were trained on the use of anti-tank weapons in Germany last summer.
A senior Kurdish delegation was in Washington last month, lobbying the US government for a direct supply of heavy weapons.
Kurdish leaders say that coalition airstrikes have crippled ISIS in Iraq, but that they need better weapons for the Peshmerga in order to change the balance of power on the ground.
Twenty American congressmen are believed to have signed a bill, urging Washington to supply arms directly to the Peshmerga forces without going through Baghdad.
