Kurdistan says Canada withdrawal from combat roles ‘bad news’

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region said Wednesday that Canada has played an important role in the war against the Islamic State group (ISIS), and that its announced withdrawal from combat roles is “bad news.”

“It is a bad news for us. Canada was a major partner in the coalition and it was a great help to Kurdistan,” Jabar Yawar, chief of staff and spokesman for the Kurdish Peshmerga ministry, told Rudaw Wednesday.

Justin Trudeau, who becomes Canada’s first new leader in a decade following his Liberal party’s landslide win in general elections, has promised to end his country’s military mission against the ISIS.

According to the Peshmerga ministry, Canada has a “very active embassy in Iraq that its ambassadors have visited the Kurdistan Region and have continued cooperation with local officials.”

“Canada helped us with military equipment. They have also support us with training Peshmerga forces,” Yawar explained.

Canada currently has some 70 military advisers in the Kurdistan region, working with the Peshmerga forces.