This year’s Pentagon budget proposal, as part of the Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund, includes training and equipment for two additional divisions of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs (MoPA), but ends stipends to peshmerga forces.

This Pentagon budget request will provide training and equipment for two additional divisions of the MoPA forces.

This includes a total budget of $61,014,940 for the peshmerga, a slight increase from 2025, when the Pentagon provided $57,792,529 for training and equipment to the peshmerga.

Furthermore, $16,247,060 is provided to maintain equipment previously provided to peshmerga forces.

The proposal mentions that, by 2026, the MoPA’s force structure will include six divisions acting as the operational command elements to direct operations through regional guard brigades (RGBs) at the tactical level.

“Additionally, MoPA will establish three training centers, a staff training college, two support force commands, and multiple logistics units,” the budget proposal stated. “To implement these changes and reforms, MoPA requires support from the Coalition Training and Evaluations Framework. These efforts aim to enhance MoPA's operational capacity to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.”

Read More: New Pentagon Budget Request Shows Increased Support for Peshmerga

However, the Pentagon 2026 budget will also mark the end of the peshmerga stipend program, as outlined in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. government and the Kurdistan Regional Government signed in 2022.

Last year, the budget for peshmerga stipends was $60 million.

A renewed non-binding MoU signed by the U.S. Department of Defense and the MoPA in 2022 committed to providing support to the peshmerga, but only if key reforms continue on unification.

The proposal mentioned that according to this MoU, the Iraqi government will be fully responsible for peshmerga stipends.