Kurdish Peshmerga
fighters are rotating through coalition training in northern Iraq at the rate
of 800 personnel every 25 days, enabling them to continue their fight against
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant with minimal interruption, the
commander of the Kurdistan Training Coordination Center said yesterday.
Speaking to
reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, German army Col. Bernd
Prill described the type of instruction the Peshmerga receive at the training
center.
Located in
northern Iraq, the center is staffed by seven coalition countries -- Germany, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, Finland, the
Netherlands and Hungary -- and
works with Peshmerga units to improve their capabilities, Prill said.
The troops receive
basic infantry training, including individual combat skills, squad tactics, and
company maneuvers, Prill explained. The training also includes counter-improvised
explosive device training, sniper training and combat life-saving medic courses.
“We train them on offense and defensive operations … in rural areas and urban
areas,” the colonel said.
The center also
holds special courses for Peshmerga officers, he said, up to the battalion
level.
Overall, the
center has trained some 8,000 Peshmerga fighters, who've then returned to the
1,200-kilometer front line to fight ISIL.
(Follow Jim
Garamone on Twitter: @GaramoneDoDNews)