Berlin to continue training Iraq army: Defense minister

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA) - Germany will continue training members of the Iraqi armed forces, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen reportedly told Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Wednesday.

Von der Leyen spoke to al-Abadi on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum now underway in Switzerland, according to an Iraqi government statement.

During her brief discussion with the Iraqi PM, von der Leyen reportedly stressed her country’s continued support for the maintenance of Iraq’s unity and stability.

Germany, the foreign minister said, also sought to bolster relations between the two countries in a number of different fields.

Since 2014, about 150 German military officers have been training Kurdish Peshmerga forces affiliated with northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government.

Over the same period, Germany has sent more than 30 shipments of weapons (weighing a total of more than 2,000 tons) within the framework of Berlin’s leading role in a U.S.-led coalition against the Daesh terrorist group.