Over 300 female volunteers from the Kurdistan Freedom Party in Iran (PAK), led by General Hussein Yazdanpanah, completed their combat and tactical training in one of the partys camps east of Erbil province in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. PAK field commander Rebaz Sharifi announced that the volunteers completed their four-month training on light and medium weapons and are ready to take up the tasks that will be assigned to them. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Sharifi said the fighters will be tasked with defending south of Erbil as well as secure the party’s headquarters and bases. He explained that the training was supervised by party veterans and field commanders, who have gained extensive experience during their more than two-year war against ISIS in Nineveh. The commander noted that weapons and military vehicles that the party’s fighters are using are the spoils of wars against ISIS and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), denying receiving any financial assistance from external or internal parties, including the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). “Unfortunately, the Regional Government has not provided us with any aid or funding. Otherwise, the performance of the partys fighters would have been much better,” asserting that the party entirely depends on itself. Officially, the forces are not part of the Peshmerga, but they share duties, noted Sharifi, adding that they receive separate funding and training. “Our party represents an anti-Iranian regime force fighting for the independence of Kurdistan Iran, but our duties of national defense and safeguarding the dignity of the Kurdish people is what we have in common with the Peshmerga.” He also announced that PAK fighters are fully prepared logistically to participate in any battle against the Iranian regime.