Peshmerga Commander: 80% of Peshmerga Unification Process Completed

The Reserve Forces' Media Office.

Wasta Rasul, Commander of the Reserve Forces.

The international allies are making significant efforts to unify the Peshmerga forces, which consists of two main units, the 70 Forces and the 80 Forces, and according to Wasta Rasul, Commander of the Reserve Forces, “while some problems remain, but 80% of the unification process has been completed.”

Speaking about the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) stance on the unification of the Peshmerga forces, Wasta Rasul said: “President Mam Jalal believed that our forces must be national, and we made many sacrifices for that purpose. He also held that we should establish a unified defence system with Iraq and strengthen our joint security structure — for this reason, he offered the Qalachwalan Military College to the Iraqi government.”

On the formation and integration of the 70 and 80 Units, Rasul explained: “Right after the establishment of the 70 and 80 Units, efforts were directed towards their merger within the Peshmerga Ministry. Now, the international allies are working to complete this process. When I was an adviser to President Bafel [PUK President Bafel Jalal Talabani], he was very serious about the unification of these forces. However, there have been attempts to undermine the PUK forces by manipulating the restructuring process, expanding divisions unnecessarily, and limiting command authority — all of which have delayed the merger.”

Rasul reaffirmed that unification remains essential: “These forces must be united. This is the view of our allies — they are not issuing orders but applying strong pressure. Technically, 80% of the unification work has been completed. The final decision rests with the Commander-in-Chief of the Peshmerga Forces and the Minister of Peshmerga Affairs.”

Addressing the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), Rasul noted the crucial role of the PUK Peshmerga: “The PUK Peshmerga played a decisive role in combating ISIS terrorists — a fact acknowledged by our allies and the United States. When the war targeted the Kurdish people, we stood together and defended Kurdistan without any discrimination or any sense of partisanship.”



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