Germany to Step Up Arms Supplies to Iraq

(MENAFN- QNA) Germany is to step up arms supplies - including of armour-piercing Milan missiles - to peshmerga fighters battling the Islamic State in Iraq, the Defence Ministry in Berlin said on Friday.

Last year, Germany sent 70 million euros (79.5 million dollars) worth of military aid, including Milan launchers and rockets. It will now send 30 more launchers and 500 more rockets, along with 203 bazookas, 4,000 more rifles and 10 Dingo armoured vehicles.

The new aid, announced after a meeting in Berlin between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, is worth 13 million euros, German News Agency (DPA) reported.

A-Abadi, for his part, noted that intelligence links with Germany were vital in tracking foreign fighters, among them German nationals now in the service of the Islamic state. "There is intelligence cooperation at the present time. There are thousands of foreign fighters from around the world, including from Germany," he said. "We are hoping above all for cooperation in intelligence, in training and equipment to fight the Islamic State." The Baghdad leader, who was later due to attend the Munich Security Conference, added: "We have information that these terrorist organizations have developed a special type of weapon to use in their terrorist operations and therefore we need more cooperation." He did not explain what the weapon was.