Canada joins other allies in moving troops out of Iraq amid rising tensions,
Soldiers moved to Kuwait as Iran launches strikes on military bases
OTTAWA— Canada is moving some of the troops deployed to help improve security in Iraq out of that country to ensure their safety amid rising regional tensions following Washington’s targeted killing of a prominent Iranian general.
Canada joined other allies such as Germany, Romania and Croatia in promising to shift personnel as concerns mounted over the threat of regional violence. Those fears were realized just hours after the plan was announced when Iran fired a barrage of missiles targeting U.S and coalition forces at Iraqi military bases at at AlAssad and Irbil early Wednesday.
“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran … We are working on initial battle damage assessments,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
A contingent of Canadian soldiers had been based in the Irbil area on an advise-and-assist mission to train local security forces. Military sources told the Star that Canadian personnel were in the area of the Iranian attack on the base.
Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of the defence staff, was at defence headquarters in downtown Ottawa Tuesday night as reports came in from Iraq. With him were senior military leaders and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.
Vance addressed a tweet to military families late Tuesday saying that Canadian Armed Forces personnel “are safe & accounted for following missile attacks in Iraq.” Vance had announced the troop move Tuesday morning in a letter addressed to the families of those deployed overseas.
“First and foremost, let me assure you that all necessary force protection measures that can be taken have been taken. The safety and security of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel is my priority, as it is the priority of my senior leadership,” Vance said in the note, which was posted on social media.
Canada has some 800 military personnel deployed in the region, including about 500 in Iraq assigned to two missions — Operation Impact, to advise and assist local forces, and a NATO training mission.
Activities on both missions have been paused as coalition nations assess the fallout from the Friday airstrike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
“The situation in Iraq is complex and it is best to pause our work there in order to fully concentrate our attention and efforts toward the safety and security of our personnel while the situation develops,” Vance said Tuesday before Iran launched its attack. He said some personnel will be temporarily moved to Kuwait, where Canada also has operations.
“Simply put, we are doing this to ensure their safety and security,” Vance said, adding that the move will disrupt schedule leaves and the rotation of people in and out of the region.
Department officials refused to say how many troops were being moved out of Iraq, citing operational security. On Monday, NATO held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and confirmed a decision to halt its own mission to train local security forces.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary-general, said that NATO would be ready to restart its training mission when the security situation permits, a message echoed by Vance.
“Naturally, the work we are doing on these missions, and the future of operations in Iraq, remain conditional on maintaining a sufficiently secure and productive operational environment,” he said.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Jordan’s King Abdullah II about the situation in Iraq and the implications for the region.