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Iraq seeking pilots for new air force

Iraq is launching a recruiting drive for pilots to help rebuild the country’s devastated air force, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday.

The Iraqi defense ministry is seeking recruits with scientific backgrounds to serve 15-year enlistments as pilots.

Applicants must be of Iraqi parents or an Iraqi father and Arab mother, and must not belong to a political party, the ministry said.

Iraq during the 1980s had one of the Middle East’s most powerful air forces, but the country’s inventory of hundreds of aircraft was mostly destroyed during the Gulf War in 1991, AFP reported.

The air force now has few airplanes and a limited number of helicopters, according to AFP. The service is headquartered in Nasiriyah, in southern Iraq.