German army starts training 32 Kurdish peshmerga fighters at army school in Bavaria
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The entrance of the army school in Hammelburg, Germany, is photographed on Sunday Sept. 28,2014. Germany’s army has started training 32 Kurdish peshmerga fighters at a Bundeswehr army school in Bavaria to support them in their fight against Islamic State extremists. A spokesman for the German defense ministry said Sunday that the 32 Kurdish fighters would stay in Germany until October 3 to receive weapons’ training. (AP Photo/dpa/David Ebener) (The Associated Press)
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 extremists.
A spokesman for the German defense ministry said Sunday 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 Thursday, dispatching a shipment of 50 hand-held anti-tank weapons, 520 G3 rifles and 20 machine guns.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.