#Peshmerga

The bloody battle for the Syrian city of Raqqa has been since been won by the Kurdish Peshmerga with U.S. support. But while it was raging, we wrote about the Polish volunteer fighting with the Peshmerga with a public name and Facebook book title of Archer. After getting in touch with the individual, he was able to submit to TFB a number of photographs of his small teams inventory along with some actual feedback on the small arms used.

A recent photograph has been posted on th e Kurdish forum Kurdistan Sky Scrapers depicting a Peshmerga fighter with a Beretta Defense Technology 5.56x45mm NATO ARX 160A2 with a 12 inch barrel instead of a standard 16 inch. The rifle sports factory sights, and has an Aimpoint CompM3 (or at least an imitation) mounted on the 12 o’clock picatinny rail. Attached to the rifle is a black two point sling. The Peshmerga fighter does not have the standard issue 30 round STANG magazine inserted, although supplies of such magazines should be close at hand due to the overwhelming use of M16A2s in the region, coming through Iraqi markets and official U.S. supply lines.

Miles shared this photo of a Kurd Peshmerga posing with his under folding AK. The AK has been decorated with what looks like crocheted koozie covers. I assume someone from his family made them. They resemble the Kurdistan flag.

A cool head under fire was on display in a video released just yesterday, in which a female sniper of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ, a part of the largely Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces narrowly avoided the bullet of an ISIS sniper who had her in his sights. The dramatic video was first released by Turkish journalist Hemze Hamza through Twitter:

The State Department and Department of Defense have announced a planned sale of almost $300 million of defense materials through the Republic of Iraq to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Peshmerga. The article specifically states that the deal is to equip two infantry battalions and two supporting artillery battalions of Peshmerga troops. Although this isn’t a U.S. Army T/O complete Brigade Combat Team (Or U.S. Marine equivalent Battalion Landing Team), the equipment numbers marry up perfectly with similar amounts in the U.S. Army, practically stripping this Peshmerga unit of anything other than Infantry and supporting artillery assets. Case in point is the amount of Colt M16A4s (Colt mentioned as being one of the suppliers) being ordered with a number of 4,400 rifles. A T/O complete U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team has an authorized strength of 4,413 soldiers, essentially on the dot of what the Peshmerga one will be. In addition the M16A4s, the planned order also specifies 46 .50 BMG M2s, and 186 M240B medium machine guns as far as small arms are concerned. I’m sure there are handgun allotments, possibly Glock 19s thrown in but too insignificant to be mentioned in the article. Of course, a number of armored vehicles and 105mm howitzers are within the bounds of the sale as well.

The mostly Kurdish composed Syrian Democratic Forces were recently pictured in combat against the so-called Islamic State with a modified Zastava M93 Black Arrow anti-material rifle. The M93 is chambered in either .50 BMG or the Russian 12.7x108mm cartridge. The M93s in use by not only the SDF but also elements of the Kurdish Peshmerga are most likely in 12.7x108mm due to the ample supply of Russian ammunition in the area of operations. Kurdish forces have been known to have been using M93s for some time now

According to the National Post, the Canadian government will begin supplying elements of the Kurdish Peshmerga in Iraq with small arms and light weapons. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously announced Canadian material support for the Peshmerga a year ago, but only recently made good on the promise this month. Germany has a history of supplying small arms to the Kurds, but recently stopped according to the article, after German rifles were found for sale on the Iraqi black market. Both countries are currently providing much training and support through troops deployed to the region, but this is the first official announcement that Canada would be providing material. From the National Post-

East Asia and the Middle East are full of garage gunsmiths and homemade firearms. With the current conflict in Syria and Iraq it seems like lots of homemade guns are being found on the battlefield. Some of them seem decently well made, and some just seem odd. The one below seems outright dangerous, to the shooter. Gun Youtubber MrGunsnGear recently posted on his Facebook page this gem that was found by Peshmerga forces fighting ISIS near Mosul.

An article that came out on Fox News has a picture of an odd SVD contraption captured by the Peshmerga in action against Daesh in northern Syria. The article had this to say-

According to their laws, the Iraqi Army isn’t allowed to enter Iraqi Kurdistan. Because of that they have the Peshmerga, the military forces who provide security for that region. “Peshmerga” literally translates as “one who confronts death” and these soldiers are fairly fearsome warriors with a history extending back thousands of years. As for the role they’ve played in the Iraq war, well, peshmerga soldiers played key roles in the capture of Saddam Hussein and also captured Hassan Ghul, the al-Qaeda member who led our own troops to Osama bin Laden’s personal messenger; it was a pivotal moment along the way to the terrorist’s death. Today peshmerga soldiers are battling it out against ISIS, and when they recently came across a vehicle booby-trapped with 50 kilos of explosives they decided to handle it their own way.