ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Coalition forces on Monday gave a total of 78 vehicles to the Peshmerga forces, the coalition’s spokesperson confirmed to Rudaw English.
“This morning, over 70 vehicles were divested to the logistical branch of the Ministry of Peshmerga. These vehicles will be used in our partner force effort to ensure the enduring defeat of Daesh,” said Col. Wayne Marotto, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (ISIS).
A total of 50 Humvees, three water tankers, and 25 general transport trucks were handed over, an anonymous source from the Peshmerga ministry told Rudaw English.
It is one of several rounds of military aid given to Peshmerga forces by the coalition.
Last month, the coalition gave Peshmerga forces more than $1 million worth of weapons and equipment. Earlier in June, the coalition handed over $3 million of weapons and equipment to the Peshmerga forces, state media reported.
In January, the United States Department of Defense gave $12.5 million worth of military aid to Peshmerga forces at Erbil International Airport. Officials from the Peshmerga ministry later told Rudaw that the aid was to go directly to the ministry, and not to party-affiliated brigades.
The latest coalition supply aid to the Peshmerga comes at a time where the Kurdistan Region is undergoing an intensive reform process, among them the integration of party-affiliated brigades into the ministry of Peshmerga.
Earlier in June, Najat Ali, commander of Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) Unit 80, said they are preparing their brigades to join the Peshmerga Ministry. And in May, Mustafa Chawrash, commander of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) Unit 70, said they were ready to coordinate and work as a team.
Peshmerga forces have consistently fought the Islamic State (ISIS) since it took swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, and are a key ally for the coalition.
At least 1,700 Peshmerga fighters were killed and around 10,000 injured in the fight against ISIS from 2014 onwards.
ISIS remnants continue to remain active across Iraq, particularly in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
