Active 2006–present | Country Iraqi Kurdistan | |
 | ||
Size 120,000 active250,000 reservists | ||
The Zerevani (Central Kurdish: زێرەڤانی Zêrevanî) (or Zeravani, sometimes Zeravani Army) are the militarised police force (described as a gendarmerie by some) operated by the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq. They are under the control of the Kurdish Ministry of the Interior but are a part of the Peshmerga (armed forces), and provide security for government and industrial property and support to civilian police & the military. They were the subject of an Amnesty campaign in June 2008 after the alleged kidnap of a Kurdish journalist. In November 2009, they began training (conducted by the Italian Carabinieri) alongside the Iraqi Federal Police; since 2014, also the Zeravani have undergone training with the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. A Zeravani division led by Colonel Abu Rish was fighting against ISIS near Mosul during summer 2015.
The first Commanding Chief of Zerevani was Faridun Jwanroyi, Fraydoon resigned in 2010 and Aziz Weysi Bani was assigned as the Major General of the Zerevani.
Current equipment of the Peshmerga
Because Zerevani forces were low on equipment when they began training, the Peshmerga army donated some of their weapons to the Zerevani. 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 Zervani companies are however armed with American rifles ( M4A1 and M16 )
