The Zêrevanî are under the operational control of the Kurdish Ministry of the Interior[1][7] but are a part of the Peshmerga (armed forces), and provide security for government and industrial property and support to civilian police & the military.[6][8] The first Commanding Chief of Zêrevanî was Faridun Jwanroyi, Fraydoon resigned in 2010 and Aziz Weysi Bani was assigned as the Major General of the Zêrevanî.[7]
The Zêrevanî were established in 1997 by the KDP in order to support the police and Asaysh forces; according to Major General Aziz Waisi, the Zêrevanî's role over the years expanded to also protect electricity stations and water resources,[1] as well as embassies, consulates, government offices and other sensitive targets.[9]
According to Stratfor, as of 2004 two Zêrevanî divisions (totaling 30,000 troops) were established in the Iraqi Federal Police.[10] In 2011, the Zêrevanî strength was of 47,000,[1] while as of 2017, Zêrevanî strength is of 51,000;[11][12] among these, there are several Iraqi Christians.[13]
Zêrevanî accepts recruits aged between 18 and 27. They need to provide an Iraqi national ID and food coupons, to be literate, to have a clean record and a recommendation in terms of moral and loyalty issues;[1] women are allowed to serve.[9]
Issues
In June 2008, the Zêravanî were the subject of an Amnesty International campaign after the alleged kidnap of a Kurdish journalist.[8] According to Canadian website McLeans.ca, the Zêravanî are considered loyal to the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party;[7] according to Major General Aziz Waisi, all political activities are forbidden within the Zêravanî, although party membership is allowed.[1]
International training and operations
In November 2009, the Zêrevanî began training conducted alongside the Iraqi Federal Police,[4] in order to conduct effective police work and counter-insurgency operations.[14] Since 2014, also the Zeravani have undergone training with the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. The Zêrevanî training is conducted primarily by the ItalianCarabinieri,[14] but also by Canadian,[7] British, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish and Hungarian forces.[14] As of 2016, the Zêrevanî were also trained by Italian Army[15]
A Zêrevanî division led by Colonel Abu Rish was fighting against ISIS near Mosul during summer 2015;[16] in 2016 the Zeravani, according to Colonel Abdularrahman Hassan, still occupied frontline positions around Mosul.[7]
Current equipment of the Pêşmerge
Because Zêrevanî forces were low on equipment when they began training, the Peshmerga army donated some of their weapons to the Zêrevanî. The Kurdistan Regional Government set them up a base and allowed them to buy their own weapons. They are usually armed with AKMs, RPKs (light Soviet machine guns) and DShKs (heavy Soviet machine guns). Some Zêrevanî companies are however armed with American rifles (M4A1 and M16)
T-54/T-55 – 21 tanks captured from the Iraqi Army in 1991 and 27 tanks captured from the Iraqi Army in 2003. 8 tanks destroyed during the 1990s and 6 tanks destroyed in the fight against ISIS[18]
Iraq
