Turkish army in Northern Iraq to train Turkmen fighters

Turkey deployed about 1,200 troops along with 20 to 25 tanks and several armored vehicles to replace training forces in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

According to Turkish military sources the military unit will train Turkmen fighters to prepare them for an operation to retake Tel Afer from Daesh.

The Daesh terrorist group seized the Turkmen-populated city in 2014, and killed hundreds of Sunni and Shiite Turkmens in the city.

The news battalion of Turkish forces will train both Shiite and Sunni Turkmens in the area to launch an operation as soon as possible.

Military sources said Turkish troops would not actively join the operation but would be ready against any kind of attack.

Though the Iraqi central government criticized the new deployment of Turkish soldiers while the Northern Iraqi authority welcomed Turkish moves, Turkish Army sources said they had been training fighters across four provinces in Northern Iraq to combat Daesh.

According to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Turkish military equipment and experts are to replace an existing unit in the Northern Iraq.

The new arrivals will be stationed at different military camps in the Mosul region plus the Soran and Kalacholan districts near the Iranian border.

Currently there are 500 mechanized troops in Bamarni, mostly tanks and infantry. Another 400 commando troops are stationed at the border town of Kanimasi.

Turkey's presence in the Northern Iraqi region will exceed 2,000 soldiers within a week, according to local media report.

According to the Turkish military, peshmerga forces have been trained against homemade explosives and to use heavy machine guns, mortars and artillery. They also received first-aid training.

More than 2,500 peshmerga, including high-ranking officers, have attended the Turkish training, the military added.

KRG deputy peshmerga minister, Mjr. Gen. Karaman Kemal Omar, said the training provided by Turkish soldiers contributed greatly to an operation by Iraqi Kurdish forces to retake Sinjar district from Daesh on Nov. 12.

Sinjar is a town located 120 kilometers [74 miles] west of Mosul with a Yazidi Kurdish majority. It fell to Daesh in August 2014.

Turkish soldiers in the Mosul region were first sent there two-and-a-half years ago in order to train Iraqi peshmerga forces.

According media report, Turkish troops also trained 1,500 Turkmen fighters in Dohuk, a neighboring governorate of Mosul.

Local sources said this was the third period of Turkmen training as every 500 Turkmen fighters received military education in every period.