Rising security risks posed by the death of a prominent Iranian general have prompted NATO to temporarily suspend a training mission in Iraq being led by Canadian troops, the federal defence minister said Saturday. Harjit Sajjan released a brief statement reiterating comments from the military alliance, which said the non-combat operation dubbed NATO Mission Iraq was on hold in the wake of the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani. “The NATO mission and Operation IMPACT’s mandate remain the same, but all training activities in Iraq are suspended temporarily as we continue to monitor the security environment,” Sajjan said in a statement. The NATO mission, established at the request of the Iraqi government, was meant to help train and advise various military personnel. There was no immediate word on the status of Canadian troops deployed in the country.

Source: Huffington Post January 05, 2020 00:00 UTC