Germany today delivered arms and ammunition to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq to boost their firepower against the Islamic State militants who have captured large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq. The first transport plane carrying 27 tonnes of weapons landed in the Kurdish provincial capital of Irbil.

Airlifted from Leipzig in eastern Germany, the cargo included "Milan" antitank missiles, machine guns, ammunition and other military goods. More cargo flights will operate to Irbil in the coming weeks to ferry over 600 tonnes of weapons and ammunition intended to boost the firepower of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, German defense ministry said.

Around 10,000 Kurdish soldiers will be equipped with the military supplies from Germany, which include "Unimog" trucks and offroad vehicles, the ministry said in a press statement.

Germany had also supplied night vision equipment, protective clothing, helmets and other military materials to the Kurdish forces earlier this month.