Coalition effort

The German troops are managing the course inside an unfinished housing development. Some of the houses are made of just cinder block and lack windows and doors.

Sand is all over the place, and it covers the inside of every house. The development has no paved roads — just rough tracks dividing the buildings. There’s construction supplies littered everywhere.

“We are just doing urban fighting training here,” a German colonel by the name of Jurgen says. “It’s great for training, and there are plenty of houses without glass, so fewer things can get broken.”

Peshmerga fighters train at an abandoned construction site. Matt Cetti-Roberts photo

In addition to the Germans, there are American, British, Canadian, Dutch and Italian advisers in Iraqi Kurdistan. They teach everything from platoon movements to heavy weapons.

The Italians are training the Kurds how to use the Folgore anti-tank rocket launcher.

“The weapon is not necessarily new, but it is effective,” Jurgen says. “The age of a weapon is not important, only if it works.”

The Peshmerga have been one of the most active — and effective — forces in the fight against Islamic State.

Last year, Germany sent a huge arms package to the Kurdish Regional Government. It’s the first time since World War II Berlin has sold arms to a group actively engaged in a war.

In January, the advisers began teaching the Peshmerga how to use the German weapons. Some of the guns have made it to the front lines, and fighters scattered in different Peshmerga units now wield G36 battle rifles.

In addition to the German training mission in Iraq, the instructors say that there are currently 30 Peshmerga students training in Germany. At the moment, Germany is the only country where Kurdish troops are training outside of Iraq.

Training the Kurds in Germany helps the soldiers comply with their mandate, which limits Berlin’s force in Iraq to 100 advisers. It also lets the Germans train the Peshmerga how to use advanced weapons like Milan anti-tank missiles in a more permissive setting.

“The missiles are very expensive,” Jurgen explains. “If you shoot it in Kurdistan, questions would be asked. They need them at the front lines.”

But Western support for the Kurds is controversial. The modern Peshmerga has roots in a guerrilla movement that fought against Iraqi rulers in hopes of greater autonomy — and perhaps, eventually, independence.

Lately, the Kurds have been working with the Iraqi government to fight Islamic State … their mutual enemy. At the same time, Kurdish attempts to assert authority over disputed territories such as Kirkuk have angered Baghdad. It’s a shaky alliance.

But the Germans tell us they aren’t here to take sides in Iraqi politics. They’re here to help Iraqis fight Islamic State.

“[The] coalition is also training [Iraqi Security Forces] elsewhere in Iraq,” Jurgen adds. “We are not training Peshmerga to free Kurdistan, that’s not our task. We are here to strengthen the ISF — and in Kurdistan, this is the Peshmerga.”

In January, the Kurds launched an offensive that drove Islamic State back to to the edge of its stronghold in Mosul. The operation — backed by coalition air strikes — was a major success and a boost to morale.

But the Peshmerga are far from unstoppable. The offensive retook ground the Kurds lost to Islamic State in August. During the jihadi assault, the Peshmerga’s defensive lines crumbled, leaving civilians vulnerable to the Sunni extremist group’s advance.

The Peshmerga struggled with modern tactics and logistics. To maintain their vehicles early in the war, Kurdish troops had to smuggle in much of their spare parts and equipment from corrupt Iraqi army officers.

“These guys are a kind of militia, not a conventional army,” a German officer known as Lt. Mark says.

He adds that the Kurdish troops are experienced fighters who act quickly, and some of them are good shots, too. “But they know nothing about tactics at a complex level.”