BRUSSELS, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — NATO said it would take “some personnel” out of Iraq because of the increased danger there after the US killing of an Iranian general triggered revenge threats.
The withdrawal is temporary but “the safety of our personnel is paramount”, a NATO official said in a statement.
US and allied foreign troops in Iraq are concerned they might be targeted by Iran or allied Iraqi militias in retaliation for Friday’s killing in Baghdad of Revolutionary Guards General Qasem Soleimani, who commanded Iran’s operations across the Middle East.
NATO announced on Saturday that it had suspended its training mission in Iraq, which fields 500 instructors.
The NATO official said other mission personnel were being moved to other parts of Iraq, and emphasised that “NATO maintains a presence”.
The alliance plans to resume its training there “when the situation permits”.
He declined to give details on how many personnel were being moved or to where.
“The temporary repositioning of some personnel” was “to different locations both inside and outside of Iraq.
“To protect the safety of our personnel on the ground, we cannot go into operational details,” he added.
Romania’s defence ministry said separately that its 14 soldiers taking part in the NATO deployment “will be temporarily relocated to another coalition base”.
Hungary’s defence minister Tibor Benko said Hungarian soldiers in Iraq were ready for evacuation “if necessary”, the official MTI agency reported.
Benko added that unless Hungary’s soldiers were asked to withdraw, they would continue their mission.
Around 200 Hungarian soldiers are stationed in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, both as part of NATO’s training mission and the broader coalition against the Islamic State organisation.
The NATO training mission in Iraq is separate to the far bigger foreign military deployment in the country led by the US, which has 5,200 soldiers stationed in Iraqi bases.
Some of the estimated 500 Canadian troops in Iraq will be moved temporarily to neighboring Kuwait in the coming days to ensure their safety amid rising tensions in the region, a top Canadian military official said in MONTREAL.
General Jonathan Vance, chief of defense staff, announced the “operational pause” in letter posted on Twitter to families of deployed military personnel.
“Over the coming days, and as a result of Coalition and NATO planning, some of our people will be moved temporarily from Iraq to Kuwait. Simply put, we are doing this to ensure their safety and security,” he wrote.
Soleimani was killed by a US drone on orders of President Donald Trump, who has warned Iran not to strike back.
The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, said “we will take our revenge” and added that the process of “expelling the United States from the region has begun”. — NNN-AGENCIES
