Canada extends anti-ISIS mission in Iraq with slimmed-down force
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Operation IMPACT, Canada’s military mission to the Middle East, will be both extended and downsized, the state-owned CBC reports. The mission is part of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
Canadian forces will remain in place until March 31, 2025, and will be downsized from the current 300 to around 150. Operation IMPACT was launched by the former conservative government in 2014.
Between 2014 and 2016, the mission included direct attacks against Islamic State (ISIS) by the Canadian Air Force (CAF). According to the website of the country’s armed forces, the CAF flew 1,378 sorties and conducted 251 airstrikes – 246 in Iraq and 5 in Syria – against 267 ISIS positions, 102 of their vehicles, and 30 arms or explosives factories.
Today, the Canadian mission includes training security forces in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, as well as servicing the Coalition base in Kuwait.
“The revised Canadian military footprint in the region will streamline our command, control and support infrastructure,” a military official told the CBC.
The move highlights the importance of the ongoing anti-ISIS mission, but also the fact that the Canadian armed forces are facing manpower shortages. Canada has also had to shift some of its forces stationed in the Middle East to eastern Europe, where NATO is backing Ukraine against a Russian invasion.
Moreover, the Canadian Supreme Court has expedited the repatriation of Canadians held in camps in northeast Syria. Whereas Canada has only repatriated three nationals from camps in Syria in the past four years, it is not set to return 26 Canadians, including four male ISIS members.