Peshmerga Ministry Announces Full Merger of Rival 70th, 80th Forces
Kurdistan Region Peshmerga Affairs Minister Shorash Ismail said on September 10 that the PUK-affiliated 70th Force and the KDP-affiliated 80th Force have been fully unified under the Peshmerga Ministry, bringing them under a single command-and-control system.
RastinewsKurdistan Region Peshmerga Affairs Minister Shorash Ismail announced on Thursday, September 10, that the 70th Force, affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and the 80th Force, affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), have been fully merged under the Peshmerga Ministry.
Ismail said the reform restructured Peshmerga forces at the brigade, division and regional command levels under a single command-and-control system. He added that two military regional commands have formally begun operating, giving the Kurdistan Region a military force reporting directly to the Peshmerga Ministry. According to Batman Burada, the process, underway for more than four years, was completed as of September 10.
Citing the minister's remarks in Kurdish, r-enks.net reported that Ismail called the development a "historic achievement" long awaited by the people of Kurdistan. The minister also credited the 70th and 80th Force commands for their role in the process.
The official announcement does not by itself confirm the process is complete. According to an analysis published by Rûpelanû, the former secretary-general of the Peshmerga Ministry said in the months before the full-merger announcement that unification achieved so far remained organizational and had not yet produced a shared military identity. The same analysis noted that, despite official statements, party-affiliated units continued to maintain an effective presence on the ground.
The merger announcement coincides with the deadline set out in the memorandum of understanding between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the U.S. Department of Defense. The memorandum had targeted September 2026 for the full integration of Peshmerga forces under the ministry, and signals that Washington would not extend the agreement again are seen as a factor that accelerated the process.
The effort to bring Peshmerga forces under a unified command was first announced in 2022. The reform's roots trace back to 1992, though the memorandum signed between the KRG and the United States has driven the recent acceleration.
Peshmerga Chief of Staff Brigadier General Isa Uzeyr said in May 2026 that the ministry had formed eight brigades to that point and that the process would be completed by September 2026.
Since their founding, Peshmerga units affiliated with the PUK and the KDP had operated under separate command structures aligned with each party's political line, long cited as the main obstacle to a unified, national Kurdistan army.