BERLIN - Germany is preparing to send around 40 soldiers to northern Iraq to train Kurdish fighters battling against militants from the Islamic State.
Following a decision last month by the German government to provide Kurdish peshmerga forces with weapons, Berlin's defense ministry said it had sent six soldiers to its consulate in Arbil, northern Iraq, to "coordinate" joint training exercises. These additional troops will be temporary according to the government.
Meanwhile, up to 30 Kurdish soldiers will travel to Germany to train in exchange.
The first batch of German weapons, which includes anti-tank rockets and machine guns, is expected to arrive in northern Iraq on September 24 and will be followed quickly by the military trainers, according to a defense ministry spokesman.
According to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, an estimated 400 German nationals had traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight on the side of the jihadists, prompting the country to send weapons and troops to help counter the militants.
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