KRG pushes for Peshmerga reform, equal pay with Iraqi army

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) says it is pushing for the expedition of reforms within the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga ministry - particularly the stalled unification of the Kurdish forces - and is urging Iraqi federal government to “equalize” the financial entitlements of the Peshmerga with those of the Iraqi army.

In a statement, the KRG reported that Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani chaired a key meeting on Monday “to review progress and accelerate ongoing reforms” within the Peshmerga ministry, stressing “the importance of completing the reform process” to ensure “its long-term success.”

The Monday meeting produced a series of “key decisions” designed to “expedite reforms,” the KRG said, including an agreement to “move forward with restructuring and reorganizing the Peshmerga forces.”

The decisions further included unifying all Peshmerga accounting units into a single unit under the Region’s Peshmerga and finance ministries.

For years, the KRG has sought to unify its various military units into a single, professional, and depoliticized national force. This initiative has received strong backing from international partners, especially the United States and its allies from the Global Coalition to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS).

Central to the effort is the integration of Unit 70 and Unit 80 - affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), respectively - into a unified command structure. Together, these units comprise the bulk of the Peshmerga, totaling over 100,000 troops.

Despite consistent international support, the unification process has faced recurring obstacles.

Between 2010 and 2013, approximately 42,000 fighters from Unit 70 and Unit 80 were merged, resulting in the formation of 14 brigades. However, progress stalled amid internal political disputes and the outbreak of war against ISIS in 2014. In 2018, the process was revived through a 35-point reform plan developed with coalition partners.

In July, Babakir Zebari, former chief of staff of Iraq’s Army and advisor to the Kurdistan Region’s presidency, told Rudaw that the Peshmerga unification had entered its final phase and would be completed by the end of the year.

Importantly, the KRG on Monday urged the Iraqi federal government to "equalize the salaries and financial entitlements of the Peshmerga with those of the Iraqi army,” underscoring that, “under the Iraqi constitution, the Peshmerga are an integral part of the country’s defense system and must have all their constitutional rights and benefits guaranteed accordingly.”

Prime Minister Barzani also “instructed the relevant authorities to protect the rights of [Peshmerga] retirees and remove all legal and technical barriers that could delay the disbursement of their salaries and benefits,” the KRG statement said.

For years, civil servants in the Kurdistan Region, including the Peshmerga forces, have been caught in the crosshairs of ongoing financial disputes between Erbil and Baghdad.

Tensions escalated in late May after the federal finance ministry suspended budget transfers to the Kurdistan Region, accusing Erbil of exceeding its 12.67 percent federal budget share, and failing to deliver the agreed oil volumes to Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO).

While talks between the KRG and the federal government are underway to address the issue, the stalemate continues to impact more than 1.2 million public sector employees in the Kurdistan Region, who have not received their salaries for at least the past two months.

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