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Iraqi Kurdish Forces Now Receiving Western Training
IRBIL, Iraq — Iraqi Kurdish forces have begun receiving training from western allies including the United States as they seek to beef up their capabilities against the Islamic State militant group, a top Kurdish security official said Monday.
Helgurd Hikmet, general director of the ministry overseeing Kurdish military forces known as peshmerga, said that France, Italy and Germany are also among countries providing training to help Kurdish forces use new machine guns, mortars, rockets and demining robots they have received.
"We asked all our allies, when they provided us with new weapons, that these weapons need training," Hikmet told The Associated Press. "So now all the allies that provided us with those weapons are providing us with training."
The U.S. launched airstrikes and humanitarian missions in August to aid Iraqi and Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq. The French last week joined in the aerial campaign. A number of European countries have also committed to arming the Kurds and providing humanitarian support for more than a million displaced people.
Meanwhile, a bombing and a shooting Monday killed seven people in and around the capital, Baghdad.
The first attack happened midday when a bomb exploded in a commercial street in Baghdad's southwestern district of Bayaa, killing four people and wounding 13 others, according to police.
Just north of Baghdad, police said that gunmen broke into the house of an anti-militant Sunni fighter, killing his two sons and a daughter. The Sunni fighter was wounded along with his wife. He was a member of Sahwa, who are Sunni militiamen who joined U.S. troops in the fight against Sunni militants during the height of Iraq's insurgency in 2007 and 2008.
Medical officials confirmed the causalities. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
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IRBIL, Iraq — Iraqi Kurdish forces have begun receiving training from western allies including the United States as they seek to beef up their capabilities against the Islamic State militant group, a top Kurdish security official said Monday.
Helgurd Hikmet, general director of the ministry overseeing Kurdish military forces known as peshmerga, said that France, Italy and Germany are also among countries providing training to help Kurdish forces use new machine guns, mortars, rockets and demining robots they have received.
"We asked all our allies, when they provided us with new weapons, that these weapons need training," Hikmet told The Associated Press. "So now all the allies that provided us with those weapons are providing us with training."
The U.S. launched airstrikes and humanitarian missions in August to aid Iraqi and Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq. The French last week joined in the aerial campaign. A number of European countries have also committed to arming the Kurds and providing humanitarian support for more than a million displaced people.
Meanwhile, a bombing and a shooting Monday killed seven people in and around the capital, Baghdad.
The first attack happened midday when a bomb exploded in a commercial street in Baghdad's southwestern district of Bayaa, killing four people and wounding 13 others, according to police.
Just north of Baghdad, police said that gunmen broke into the house of an anti-militant Sunni fighter, killing his two sons and a daughter. The Sunni fighter was wounded along with his wife. He was a member of Sahwa, who are Sunni militiamen who joined U.S. troops in the fight against Sunni militants during the height of Iraq's insurgency in 2007 and 2008.
Medical officials confirmed the causalities. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
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