ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Canadian forces conducting training with Kurdish Peshmerga have taken on a more offensive role, and have exchanged fire with Islamic State (ISIS) militants, military officials said.
“The mission has changed since the spring. It’s gone from a more defensive posture to a more offensive one,” said the deputy commander of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, Brigadier-General Peter Dawe speaking with reporters on Thursday.
He said that Canadian troops have exchanged fire with ISIS militants on “several instances” since January.
Jabar Yawar, chief of staff and spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga ministry, told Rudaw English that, formally, the role of the coalition military in the region is “training and military advice.” But, he added, coalition forces are on every frontline with the Peshmerga, in addition to the training centres.
If some soldiers wish to engage with ISIS fighters, that is their individual decision, Yawar said.
Brig-Gen. Dawe confirmed that the Canadians are “more engaged on the line – there should be no doubt about that – and, by extension, the risk has increased to our troops simply by virtue of time spent at the line and the work we’re doing now in a more dynamic and fluid environment.”
While the Canadian forces are more engaged on the frontlines, Canadian media has reported that the mission in northern Iraq may end soon.
The CBC reported that the defence ministry estimates it will spend $305.8 million on the military campaign through to the end of the next budget year. But of that, only $41.9 million has been allocated for 2017-18, leading some experts to say that the government intends to end the mission.
There are 596 Canadian forces involved in the global coalition, based in four different countries, including the Kurdistan Region where they have trained at least 2,000 Peshmerga.
One Canadian has died in the conflict. Sgt. Andrew Joseph Doiron was killed in a friendly fire incident on March 6, 2015.
“The mission has changed since the spring. It’s gone from a more defensive posture to a more offensive one,” said the deputy commander of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, Brigadier-General Peter Dawe speaking with reporters on Thursday.
He said that Canadian troops have exchanged fire with ISIS militants on “several instances” since January.
Jabar Yawar, chief of staff and spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga ministry, told Rudaw English that, formally, the role of the coalition military in the region is “training and military advice.” But, he added, coalition forces are on every frontline with the Peshmerga, in addition to the training centres.
If some soldiers wish to engage with ISIS fighters, that is their individual decision, Yawar said.
Brig-Gen. Dawe confirmed that the Canadians are “more engaged on the line – there should be no doubt about that – and, by extension, the risk has increased to our troops simply by virtue of time spent at the line and the work we’re doing now in a more dynamic and fluid environment.”
While the Canadian forces are more engaged on the frontlines, Canadian media has reported that the mission in northern Iraq may end soon.
The CBC reported that the defence ministry estimates it will spend $305.8 million on the military campaign through to the end of the next budget year. But of that, only $41.9 million has been allocated for 2017-18, leading some experts to say that the government intends to end the mission.
There are 596 Canadian forces involved in the global coalition, based in four different countries, including the Kurdistan Region where they have trained at least 2,000 Peshmerga.
One Canadian has died in the conflict. Sgt. Andrew Joseph Doiron was killed in a friendly fire incident on March 6, 2015.
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