Peshmerga general: KRG political problems won't affect fight against IS
A Kurdish general calls for more ammunition, aid and NATO troops to join the peshmerga in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraqi Kurdistan.
With the Islamic State (IS) now making direct threats toward the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, and more specifically against its president, Massoud Barzani, what is the situation on the front lines in the fight against the terrorist organization? Al-Monitor spoke with the nephew of Barzani, Gen. Sirwan Barzani, who is now manning part of the front line in the battle against the radical group.
The text of the interview follows:
Al-Monitor: What is the current state of IS? Have the recent offensives launched against the group and the increase in airstrikes significantly weakened it?
Barzani: Yes, of course. [Yet] while they might be weakened, they still have enough forces to launch attacks. The front lines with IS stretch for more than 3,700 kilometers [2,300 miles] in Iraq, Syria and Kurdistan — our front line is more than 1,000 kilometers [621 miles]. They still rely on suicide bombers and seem to have enough weapons and resources. In the last eight months the situation was calmer, but in the last two weeks in my sector — which is No. 6 — we have been attacked about four times. This might be linked to the bad weather [IS tends to launch attacks during foggy or rainy nights], and it shows they still have the capability to fight. We have also seen more attacks by IS using Katyushas, Dushkas and mortars, nearly every day. When they took over the weapons of the Iraqi army, this gave them enough supply for a period of time. But it has been a year and half since, so the question is: How are they resupplying?
