Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, said the non-combat unit had started its mission at the general consulate in the Kurdish capital of Irbil on Wednesday.

The group of six will be charged with delivering arms to Kurdish forces battling "Islamic State" (IS) militants in the region, who have made significant territorial gains in recent months as part of a quest to establish a "caliphate" in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly ruled out sending combat troops to Iraq, but she said Germany had to act because hundreds of Germans had joined "IS" fighters.

"The Islamic State has about 20,000 fighters according to our estimates, 2,000 of them from Europe ... of whom probably 400 are from Germany," Merkel said on Wednesday. "So we can't just say it has nothing to do with us - we are implicated."

The German soldiers are expected to work with the Iraqi government and local Kurdish authorities to help distribute packages of military and civilian supplies, as well as provide any necessary information about the equipment.

In a statement on its website, the Bundeswehr on Thursday said the first delivery was expected "to arrive shortly," and consisted of more than 5,000 support materials - including radios, night-vision devices, protective vests, combat helmets, and tools for clearing mines and munitions.

Upcoming debate

According to US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Canada and Albania had committed to providing "arms and equipment" to Kurdistan.

Germany's decision to supply weapons symbolizes a break with the country's post-World War Two principle of not sending weapons to conflict zones. But Merkel on Wednesday said the "awful" treatment of minority groups and non-Sunni Muslims by "IS" signified an exceptional situation, which could be described as a "genocide."

"Considering the atrocities, the barbarism happening there, I think that it is justified for us to say that - to a limited extent - we will also help with weapons deliveries," Merkel said.

The German government will meet on Sunday to decide which specific military supplies to send to Kurdish forces in future deliveries. This decision will then be debated in the German parliament on Monday, at the request of Germany's Green and Left parties. They oppose the contribution of arms, and have raised concerns the weapons could end up in the wrong hands. The parliamentary debate would be purely symbolic, however, as all German arms exports must be approved by a special government panel, not the parliament.

Germany's public have also been less than enthusiastic about the break with normal German policy. In a poll by Forsa last week, 63 percent said they were against arming the Kurds.

nm/tj (dpa, Reuters)