SULAIMANI (ESTA) — U.S.-led Coalition forces provided Iraqi forces with military equipment and vehicles worth $5 million, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.
Spokesman of Joint Operations Command Tahseen al-Khafaji said the Iraqi army had received military vehicles and equipment including weapons from the Coalition forces.
“It is to assist the Iraqi security forces in their fight against Islamic State and to build military institutions with the best equipment,” he added.
A source in the international coalition told Shafaq News that the handover took place at Ain al-Asad in Anbar province.
“This equipment to support Iraq with their mission against Daesh is part of the Counter ISIS Train and Equip (CTEF) program which has been in place since 2014 and is funded through the U.S. Defense Department’s budget for Operation Inherent Resolve,” said Coalition Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto.
The Coalition Forces led by the United States was formed in 2014 when ISIS militants overran large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria. The Coalition backed Iraqi and Kurdish forces to defeat ISIS militants in the country.
In December 2020, the Coalition said it had funded more than $5 billion of support to equip and train Iraqi and Kurdish forces since 2014.
The Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) said the funds went to a wide range of materials from a small 9-cent washer to repair a vehicle, to a $13 million equipment set for a full Peshmerga brigade.
*This story was updated at 03:38 p.m. EBL time
