Canadian troops help secure Jordan and Lebanon borders
Equipment, airstrike training aims to block Daesh fighters arriving from Iraq and Syria
OTTAWA— Canadian soldiers have been quietly helping Jordan and Lebanon secure their borders amid fears of Daesh fighters slipping from Iraq and Syria to launch attacks in Europe and North America.
Military officials say the Canadians are not actually working on the borders, but otherwise won’t say how many troops are in Jordan and Lebanon or where they are located, citing operational security.
Jordan’s King Abdullah referenced the efforts to strengthen his country’s borders during a news conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa on Tuesday.
Much of Canada’s assistance has come in the form of equipment for the Jordanian and Lebanese militaries, including trucks, cold-weather gear and even basics such as barbed wire.
But Canadian troops have also trained local forces in some advanced combat skills, such as how to call airstrikes onto enemy targets.
The support has largely focused on helping those countries secure their borders with Iraq and Syria, where Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, continues to pose a threat despite its recent military losses.
Lebanon shares a border with Syria to the east, while Jordan has a border with Syria to the north and Iraq to the east.
“It’s a very open border. It’s basically a desert that I could qualify as porous,” said Col. David Abboud, the top Canadian soldier in Jordan, said.
The international community has long been concerned about Daesh fighters entering and leaving Iraq and Syria, but fears of an exodus have increased as the group faces imminent military defeat.
The biggest fear for countries such as Canada is that citizens who joined Daesh as foreign fighters will slip back to their native lands and launch terrorist attacks.
Intelligence officials said last year that about 180 people with connections to Canada were suspected of terrorist activity abroad, and half were believed to be in Iraq and Syria.
Jordan’s borders have been relatively free of violence, aside from sporadic bombings and scattered reports of Daesh forces in the area.
But Lebanon’s border with Syria has seen intense fighting in recent weeks.