Kurdistan Region Peshmerga merger process to launch with coalition-supervised training

ERBIL, Iraq — BAGHDAD — The Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Peshmerga will launch the first concrete step on Monday to unify Peshmerga forces, a ministry source said, beginning with a training program supervised by the international coalition. The training, titled the "Decision-Making Process," is intended as the practical start of the ministry's plan to bring the forces under a single command. It follows the earlier restructuring of units previously known as Units 70 and 80, which were reorganized as the First Zone and Second Zone. Participants will include Peshmerga fighters from both zones, coalition trainers, and officers and instructors from the Peshmerga ministry. The source said the program's ultimate goal is the full merger of the forces under the ministry's umbrella.