Shafaq News– BaghdadA South Korean aviation firmhas offered to equip each Iraqi province with two aircraft for firefighting andrescue missions, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced on Saturday.According to a statement, duringa meeting in Baghdad, Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al-Shammari and a delegationfrom the Korean company that previously supplied two aircraft to support CivilDefense operations discussed expanding cooperation in interior aviation andprocuring a helicopter fleet dedicated to firefighting and emergency response.The move comes as Iraq’s CivilDefense Directorate reported a 58% decline in fire incidents in 2025,attributing the drop to increased staffing and the launch of more than 100 newfire and rescue units equipped with modern vehicles and tools imported fromGermany, Japan, the United States, and South Korea.In October 2025, the CivilDefense Directorate received its first firefighting and rescue helicopter,marking “a milestone upgrade” for the agency since its founding in 1956, undera $93.7 million contract with Korea Aerospace Industries for two KUH-1 Surionhelicopters customized for disaster response. The contract also includes pilotand engineer training, with full operational deployment expected by 2029.