One of the M119 guns that were handed over to the Peshmerga. (1st Support Forces Command)
The Peshmerga forces of Iraq's Kurdistan region have received new artillery from the United States, it was announced on 6 August.
The Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs (MoPA) said the US-led coalition had handed over an unspecified number of artillery pieces to its 1st and 2nd support forces commands (SFCs) during a ceremony attended by the US consul in Erbil.
Kurdistan 24 television news coverage of the event showed at least five trucks with the badge of the 1st SFC towing 105 mm M119s, the US version of the British L118 light field gun.
In his televised speech, US consul Mark Stroh said, “Today marks the long-planned transfer of an important capability to the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. These howitzers signify a milestone in building capacity for the Peshmerga forces.” He did not say what had delayed the transfer of the guns.
The US Defense Cooperation Agency announced in April 2017 that the US government had approved the transfer of 36 refurbished M119s to equip two artillery battalions as part of a USD295 million package of equipment for Iraqi Kurdish forces.
The commander of the 1st SFC said in June 2023 that his units would receive their M119s in August of that year.
The 1st and 2nd SFCs comprise what were the heavy weapons units loyal respectively to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the two main Iraqi Kurdish parties. The commands were formally transferred from the parties to the MoPA in 2021 as part of a US-backed plan to create unified Peshmerga forces for northern Iraq.
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