The Peshmerga forces of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region are pleading for weapons so they can repel Islamic State (IS) fighters.<br /><br />They are facing a well-armed force of Sunni militants who are using looted military hardware supplied by the US to Iraqi government troops who were overrun in the north and west of the country. <br /><br />After the IS group took the town of Makhmour with relative ease a week ago, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook it on Sunday following the retreat of IS fighters after US airstrikes.<br /><br />Peshmerga General Sadi Ali Amer said they can only hold on to the town if they get the weapons they need: “Machine guns, rockets, armoured personnel carriers, sniper rifles, mortars, anti-tank rockets, tanks – the weapons troops in other countries have. Especially the Americans, with their advanced military.”<br /><br />France – with British and Czech backing – is pressing the European Union to arm the outgunned Kurdish fighters. <br /><br />Germany has said that it would not supply weapons, but would send armored vehicles, night-vision gear and medical supplies to be delivered via the Baghdad government. <br /><br />US planes continue air strikes against the Islamic State fighters, who are moving towards the Kurdish capital Erbil. <br /><br />US officials have said that Washington is also directly supplying weapons to the Kurds.
