Canadian officer, US citizen died in separate incidents in Baghdad: Sources

Karwan Faidhi Dri

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Canadian Armed Forces announced on Monday that one of their members has died in Baghdad due to reasons not related to operations earlier this week. In a separate incident, an American citizen died in the Iraqi capital city under unclear circumstances, an informed source told Rudaw. 

“A Canadian Armed Forces member, Captain Eric Cheung, died Saturday under non-operational related circumstances in Baghdad, Iraq. An investigation into the circumstances of this incident is currently underway and no further details will be made available until the investigation has been completed,” the Canadian army said in a statement.   

He worked as an operations officer with Canadian forces in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was also working in Baghdad as an Executive Officer to the Directorate of Strategic Communications for Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) - which is affiliated to the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS). 

Canada is an active member of the global coalition which was formed in 2014 in response to ISIS’ takeover of swathes of Iraqi and Syrian land. Despite the territorial defeat of the group, the coalition forces’ non-combat mission continues. 

In a separate incident, an American citizen, who worked as an English teacher, died in Baghdad on Monday. Stephen Edward Troell, 45, also worked for an organisation which is affiliated to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an informed source told Rudaw’s Srwa Hawramy. 

The circumstances which led to his death are unclear.

Rudaw English has reached out to the US embassy in Baghdad but has yet to receive a reply.