BREAKING: Canada is relocating some of its roughly 500 soldiers in Iraq to Kuwait due to ongoing tensions between U.S. and Iran
The move, which Vance announced in an open letter to the families of Canadian soldiers in Iraq that was posted to Twitter, follows the lead of Germany and several other allies who have withdrawn some of their troops.
Canada has about 500 soldiers in Iraq, most of whom are there to help train local forces to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, including about 200 with a NATO mission in the south of the country and upwards of 200 special-forces soldiers in the north.“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.
The death of Iranian Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was seen as the second-most powerful person in Iran, has raised fears of Iranian reprisals. Iraq's parliament and outgoing prime minister have called for the forced withdrawal of all western troops from the country. A leaked letter from the U.S. general commanding the anti-ISIL coalition to Iraq's defence ministry on Monday suggested the coalition, to which Canada belongs, was preparing to pack up and withdraw from the country.
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Canada relocating some troops from Iraq to KuwaitChief of the defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance says the Canadian military is temporarily relocating some soldiers from Iraq to Kuwait.
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