Forbes Magazine: America seeks to arm the Peshmerga away from Baghdad
Forbes Magazine: America seeks to arm the Peshmerga away from Baghdad
8-13-2024
Information/Translation..
A report by the American magazine Forbes revealed on Tuesday that the United States is seeking to arm the Kurdish Peshmerga separately from Baghdad, claiming that they lack defensive capabilities and the Iraqi federal government’s continued refusal to allow the transfer of basic weapons, while the United States had supplied the Peshmerga with artillery earlier this month.
The report, translated by Al-Maalouma Agency, stated that “the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs announced that it had received American 105 mm howitzers on August 6. US Consul General Mark Stroh praised the “long-planned transfer” as a “milestone in building the capabilities of the Peshmerga forces.” According to his claim.
The report explained that “the United States has approved the transfer of 36 M119 artillery to equip two Kurdish artillery battalions since 2017, and the US coalition has often transferred military vehicles to the Peshmerga, including Humvees, trucks, and mine-resistant protected vehicles.”
The military advisor to the presidency of the Kurdistan Region and former Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army, Babakir Zebari, claimed that the Iraqi government is preventing the coalition from supplying the Peshmerga with drones, saying, “The coalition wanted to bring some drones, but they (Baghdad) put many obstacles and prevented that,” he said.
“The coalition may seek to provide the Peshmerga with surveillance drones and miniature loitering munitions, such as the electric razors used in Ukraine, to at least partially compensate for this lack of air power,” the report said.
It is noteworthy that Masrour Barzani demanded in an interview conducted with him by NBC News last February that “the Kurds need their own air defense capable of intercepting missiles and drones independently at least.”
almaalomah.me
