Iraq: co-operation between Italian and US military instructors

21/07/15

The Italian military trainers of the "Erbil" Task Force, coordinated by the Italian-led multinational KTCC (Kurdish Training Coordination Center), have started a cooperation activity with US military instructors aimed at getting to know their weapon systems that will soon equip Kurdish security forces.

The training activity is coordinated by the KTCC composed of Italian, British, German, Dutch, Norwegian and Finnish soldiers who train the peshmerga at the request of the Kurdish representatives of the MoP (Ministry of Peshmerga).

Following the expansion of the self-proclaimed Islam of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, the United States has given birth to a Coalition Of Willing (COW), in which Italy also takes part, in order to counter the jihadist threat by supporting Kurdish security forces.