Germany starts training 32 Kurdish peshmerga fighters

Germany starts training 32 Kurdish peshmerga fighters

BERLIN - The Associated Press
Germany starts training 32 Kurdish peshmerga fighters

German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (C) meets with Kurdish Peshmerga officers from different units at an army barracks during a one-day visit, in Arbil, Sept. 25. REUTERS Photo

Germany's army has started training 32 Kurdish peshmerga fighters at an army school in Bavaria to support them in their fight against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.

A spokesman for the German defense ministry said Sept. 28 that the 32 Kurdish fighters would stay in Germany until October 3 to receive weapons' training.

Germany also began delivering arms to the Kurds in northern Iraq on Sept. 25 dispatching a shipment of 50 hand-held anti-tank weapons, 520 G3 rifles and 20 machine guns.

In total, the German plan calls for arming 10,000 Kurdish fighters with some 70 million euros ($90 million) worth of equipment.

Germany is also sending some 40 paratroopers to help train the fighters on the weapons.