Assault rifles and pistols from German military stocks have reportedly been resold by members of the Kurdish peshmerga in northern Iraq and the fighters allegedly sold them after not being paid for months.

As a result of research conducted by German broadcasters NDR and WDR in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), assault rifles and pistols from the German army stocks are now being offered at arms markets in northern Iraq.

German opposition politicians have already warned that the weapons may fall into the wrong hands. Originally, the weapons were intended for use in the fight against the DAESH terror militia.

In the towns of Irbil and Sulaymaniyah, reporters from German broadcasters NDR and WDR found G3 assault rifles and a P1-type pistol engraved with the letters "BW" which stands for Bundeswehr, the German army. The weapons apparently come from stocks, which have been sent to the Kurdish autonomous government in northern Iraq.

According to research, the Peshmerga fighter sold their service weapons because they did not receive their pay for months due to the difficult economic situation in the country. G3-type assault rifles, built in 1986, were offered on the market for about $1,450 to $1,800.

The reporters said that they found an ex-Peshmerga fighter in Berlin with his family as asylum seekers. He said that he was able to escape with the money he received for his gun.

The officials in the Kurdish autonomous government are aware of the fleeing peshmergas and the governor of Kirkuk told NDR and WDR that he doesn't condemn the fleeing soldiers. The Kurdish government isn't able to pay their employees, including the peshmerga, on a regular basis.

In 2014, the German government started to send weapons to the Kurdish peshmerga in northern Iraq, to support them in the fight against DAESH. Currently, the German government intends to send additional arm shipments to the Kurdish armed forces. The Bundeswehr already conceded last year that it does not know exactly to which unit the weapons were given.

At the request of NDR and WDR, the German defense ministry said that the government in the region is responsible for everything that goes on there. They were "committed to the correct verification of the transferred weapons" and stated that the supplied material would be used in accordance with international law. The tracking of individual weapons by the German forces is neither intended nor possible.