Peshmerga forces in Makhmour desperate for US weapons as city remains vulnerable

(12 Aug 2014) The empty shell casings scattered near a Kurdish checkpoint in the city of Makhmour are the remnants of days of heavy fighting between Peshmerga militia and Islamic State (IS) militants.
After the IS group took Makhmour with relative ease a week ago, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook it on Sunday following a round of US airstrikes that pushed IS forces into retreat.
On Tuesday officers from the Peshmerga said they would need more weapons and ammunition in order to keep their fragile hold on the town.
They say it is essential they get more armoured vehicles to fight IS forces, who captured many American armoured vehicles from Iraqi forces as they rampaged across northern and western Iraq.
They also need heavy weapons, they said, if they are to keep the militants at bay.
"All these weapons, PKC (general purpose machine gun), rockets, APC's (Armoured Personnel Carriers), snipers, mortars and anti-tank rockets, tanks, all those weapons the troops of other countries have," said Peshmerga General Sadi Ali Amer.
Many streets in Makhmour lay empty after residents fled the IS advance and on Tuesday more were leaving despite Kurdish forces retaking the town.
25-year-old Idris Omar, himself a Peshmerga soldier, has decided to move to Irbil after living in Makhmour his whole life.
He fled the town when the Islamic State group took over and returned after the Peshmerga took it back, only to find his house had been raided and some of his belongings, including money and bullets, had been stolen.
France has pressed the European Union to arm the outgunned Kurdish fighters, an idea backed by Britain and the Czech Republic.
Germany said it planned to send vehicles, night-vision gear and bomb detectors to the Iraqi government, which could then pass them to the Kurdish forces.
Meanwhile the Peshmerga have little choice but to hold their positions with the equipment and ammunition they have left.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...