Sweden, Finland to send military trainers to Erbil

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Sweden – The Swedish government and Finland are planning to send at least 80 military trainers to Erbil to help train Peshmerga forces in the war against jihadi ISIS fighters, Sweden’s SvenskaDagbladet newspaper reported Saturday.

It said Swedish officials are considering deploying an estimated 30 military trainers before summer 2015, and that officials are working on a draft bill to submit to parliament for approval.

The newspaper also quoted officials from Finland’s Ministry of Defense as saying that Helsinki was pursuing a similar plan, and is expected to send at least 50 military trainers to support Kurdish forces, also by summer 2015.

Swedish support for the Kurdish struggle against the jihadists has so far been more humanitarian than military. The former Swedish foreign minister who visited refugee camps in Erbil in September last year said the Swedish aid agency (SIDA) will allocate the bulk of its budget for 2015 to help some 3 million refugees in Iraq and Turkey.

Sweden, home to one of the largest Kurdish communities in Diaspora, has been under increasing pressure to step up support for Kurdish forces battling ISIS. Five members of the Swedish parliament are of Kurdish origin, representing around 100,000 Kurds who live in Sweden. /End/