Two Thousand to Be Dispatched to Iraq Beginning Late August

The departure timetable for dispatch of the Zaitoon unit was finally concluded, which confirmed the sending of an advance team and an additional 2,000 troops of the main contingent to Iraq.

At a National Security Council (NSC) meeting held on June 18, the locations for the troops was confirmed to be the Iraq’s northern Kurdish region of Irbil and a part of the neighboring town, Ninawa, and the government made an official announcement about this schedule.

According to the schedule, 660 of the Seohui and Jema units stationed in Iraq’s southern town of Nasiriyah will move to Irbil in mid July to start constructing billets for the Zaitoon unit of 3,600 strong.

The Ministry of National Defense plans to use ships of the 4,168 ton class and 25,000 ton class to transport military supplies and equipment to Iraq sometime next month.

An advance party of 900 troops will be dispatched in early August, when those goods and equipment will arrive in Iraq. The main contingent will be divided into two groups to be dispatched.

The first batch of 1,000 troops will be dispatched around the end of August, when the construction of the billets will be completed, and the second batch of 1,000 troops will be dispatched after the first group settles down.

The advance party and the first batch of the main contingent will be stationed in the state land in Rashikin, which is 1.5 kilometers away from the Irbil airport. The remaining troops will be posted in a farm area of Shwarash.

The Zaitoon unit plans to concentrate on helping the peaceful reconstruction and to leave the role of keeping a watch on the border areas to the Iraqi border guards and the U.S. troops, while leaving the role of maintaining the public peace to the Kurdish militia, the police, and the civil defense corps.

Ho-Won Choi bestiger@donga.com