Peshmerga Out Of Bullets For UK-Supplied Guns

The Kurdish Peshmerga says it has run out of ammunition for the machine guns that were given to them by the British Government in 2014.

Forty Browning .50 calibre machine guns and almost half a million rounds of ammunition, were delivered to the Peshmerga to help repel Islamic State attacks in northern Iraq.

The Government gave the delivery much publicity at the time.

The last bullet, however, was, according to The Times, fired seven months ago, and has not been resupplied, despite repeated requests.

The Ministry of Defence released a statement to Sky News saying: "The UK is playing a leading role in the fight against Daesh (another name for Islamic State).

"This is why we have responded positively to past requests for equipment and ammunition, and we will always consider what more we can do.

"While the Iraqi Security Forces are making solid progress, we recognise the important role the Kurds are playing and as part of our support we have trained over 3,300 Peshmerga troops."

All requests for equipment must now be channelled to the Coalition through Baghdad.

Because Kurdistan is only a semi-autonomous region and not independent in its own right, the Iraqi government has a say on what weapons are given to the Peshmerga.

Privately, sources say that the Peshmerga constantly ask for more equipment but concede there does appear to be some fault, in this instance, with the British Government.

There is also concern within the Ministry of Defence that the Kurds could stockpile any equipment for use in future

As well as the Browning machine guns, the UK has provided over 50 tons of non-lethal support to the Kurdish Peshmerga.

Other Coalition nations have provided significant military aid.

The British military has also delivered ammunition on behalf of other Coalition nations.