ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq has become the biggest indirect weapons supplier of the Islamic State, or ISIS, said Masrour Barzani, citing the heavy weapons, vehicles and ammunition the extremist group seized from the Iraqi Army in Mosul and Ramadi,

Barzani, chairman of the Kurdistan Region Security Council, made the comments at a press conference Thursday in Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Barzani said ISIS captured advanced weapons from fleeing Iraqi Army troops in Mosul, and Peshmerga forces need similar weapons if they are to defeat the extremist fighters.

Barzani said the political climate in Iraq gave ISIS the opportunity to seize many Sunni areas such as Ramadi and most of western Anbar province.

“The international community must fight ISIS ideologically first, if they are willing to defeat ISIS,” said Barzani.

Also on Thursday, the government of Kuwait agreed to donate $200 million to Iraq to fight the deepening economic and humanitarian crisis brought on by the war with the Islamic State.

Rudaw