by TILL RIMMELE

Last August, Germany pledged weapons to Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State. It looks like Berlin made good on its promise.

A small arms batch consisting of G36 and G3 rifles has filtered to the front lines, with Kurdish forces using them around Shingal and Sinjar. Photos released by the Kurdistan Regional Government in February show Bundeswehr advisers instructing Kurdish forces how to use the weapons.

Germany also supplied MILAN anti-tank guided missiles and Panzerfaust 3 rockets. We discussed the German weapons deployments last November. As suspected, the missiles proved their effectiveness against armored vehicles during the ongoing campaign around Mosul and Kirkuk.

There have been no reports about a combat deployment of the Panzerfaust 3, but the closest and most recent evidence are pictures of Kurdish troops inspecting the weapons.

In Germany, the government agreed to step up its aid to the Kurds. On Jan. 29, the German parliament agreed to set up a training mission consisting of—at maximum—100 instructors who will assist Kurdish troops in the region until Jan. 31, 2016.

To be sure, the German troops can defend themselves, but will not directly involve themselves in combat. The advisers’ operational tasks include training and coordinating with allies based at command centers in Iraq and Kuwait.

There’s more weapons on the way. On Feb. 6, the German ministry of defense released a list of materials it intends to hand over to the Peshmerga. This include 30 MILAN anti-tank guided missile launchers with 500 missiles, 200 Panzerfaust 3s with 2,400 anti-tank rockets and more small arms with 7.62 x 51 and 5.56 x 45-caliber ammunition.