Speed, surprise and violence of action; the trifecta of building fighting. To Peshmerga forces this is a relatively new concept since many have never received this kind of training before and being able to effectively employ it on the battlefield is essential. Nearly all major offensives done by Kurdish forces revolve around capturing a building or city from the Islamic state. While they struggled to understand the concepts of close quarters battle at first, with repetition they gradually become more proficient in its techniques. It’s paramount that the Kurds acquire this skill set as a military force if they want to evolve as/to a modern military power.

The following video is a few clips thrown together from a day of training. Some things to keep in mind while watching this; these men have never done CQB training before, this was their first day, windows were out of play for the scenario, and no matter how much we said it to them they just wouldn’t slow down. Some other considerations; Peshmerga are very rarely issued grenades so there wasn’t much point having them practice breaching that way but we did demonstrate and educate them on how to do it should they find themselves with grenades on hand. Body armor is also a rare commodity, obviously muzzle discipline is an unheard of concept in the Middle East so that was and is a constant work in progress.