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NATO suspends training mission in Iraq citing security

NATO suspends training mission in Iraq citing security | iNFOnews.ca
Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan takes part in a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019. NATO says it has suspended a training mission for soldiers in the Iraqi army in the wake of the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

BRUSSELS – NATO says it has suspended a training mission for soldiers in the Iraqi army in the wake of the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

The military alliance said in a statement Saturday that even if the Canadian-led mission is to continue in the future, security concerns for its personnel were “paramount.”

Soleimani was the head of Iran's elite Quds Force and the mastermind of its regional security strategy. He was killed early Friday near the Baghdad international airport along with senior Iraqi militants in an airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump. The attack has caused regional tensions to soar and tested the U.S. alliance with Iraq.

“We continue to take all precautions necessary,” NATO spokesman Dylan White said in a statement. "NATO’s mission is continuing, but training activities are temporarily suspended,”

The Iraqi mission consists of several hundred staff from allied nations and non-NATO countries.
 

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Kathy Michaels

Kathy Michaels has been an Okanagan-based journalist for more than a decade, working for community papers along the valley and beyond.
She’s won provincial and national awards in business, news and feature writing and says that her love for telling a good story rivals only her fondness for turning a good phrase.
If you have a story that deserves to be told in a thoughtful and compassionate manner, don’t hesitate to reach out.
To reach Kathy call 250-718-0428 or email kmichaels@infonews.ca.

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