OTTAWA — The commander of Canada’s elite special forces unit says some Canadian soldiers were involved in a massive attack last month that U.S. and Iraqi authorities say killed dozens of fighters loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. supported military attacks.
In an exclusive interview with the Canadian Press, Maj.-Gen. Peter Doe said his troops contributed to planning the two-week operation, codenamed “Lady Lion.” The operation involved using airstrikes and Iraqi snipers to root out ISIS forces from their mountain hideouts.
As the offensive in the Makhmour Mountains was underway, Canadians also provided surveillance and supply support to local forces, and were on standby in helicopters to provide medical evacuations, Do added.
“I would say we were part of a coalition effort to support that,” he said. “Our aviation detachment was providing critical care support and was on standby for that. We also helped out a little bit with surveillance.”
The revelations about Canada’s involvement in Operation Lady Lion come after a year of revelations about what the approximately 200 Canadian special forces members currently in Iraq are doing as part of Canada’s ongoing fight against ISIS. This is the first full-fledged latest information.
They also coincided with the federal government’s recent decision to extend the entire mission, which also includes hundreds of non-special forces personnel scattered across Iraq and the surrounding region, until March next year.
Canada has had special forces in Iraq since September 2014, when the international community first scrambled to stop ISIL from occupying large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Canada’s counter-ISIS mission has evolved several times and continues to include special forces.
Mr. Do acknowledged that Canadian special forces continue to operate from a military base near the city of Erbil in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region. The base has been hit by rockets several times over the past year, but no Canadians were injured, Do said.
Operation Lady Lion began on March 9, and over the next two weeks, Iraqi and coalition aircraft attacked a series of ISIS tunnels and bunkers with 312 airstrikes. ISIS fighters attempting to flee were captured or killed by Iraqi snipers.
U.S. and Iraqi authorities say 120 hideouts have been destroyed and at least 27 ISIL fighters killed, but it is unclear how many were buried in this cave complex in an area difficult to police. It’s unknown.
While the operation has been hailed as a success, Doe said Canada’s support was an “exception to the trend” given the Canadian military’s work in Iraq.
Mr. Doe did not go into details, but he suggested that the training and support that the Canadian military has been providing to Iraqi forces has shifted from cooperation on the battlefield to more behind-the-scenes planning.
This reflects that Iraqis are beginning to hone their skills and experience in hunting down ISIS cells and sympathizers, Do said, but Canadian troops may also accompany the assault on the ground. I admitted that there was.
“That’s progress,” he said. “We still provide tactical advice and support from time to time, and historically we have sometimes been approached by hostile actors, and we have had to protect ourselves and our partners. There was also.”
Mr. Doe again did not provide details, but said the Canadian military had fired at least once in self-defense “over the past few years.”
Despite officials insisting they were only firing in self-defense and not engaging in “offensive combat operations,” the military and federal government said early in the mission that Canadian special forces were in combat. faced with questions about whether or not there was.
Sergeant Andrew Doiron, the only Canadian killed in the line of duty with ISIS, died in a so-called friendly fire in March 2015. The government’s decision to extend the mission against ISIS comes amid uncertainty about Iraq and exactly what Canada’s presence there is. It will take several months in surrounding areas.
This includes a NATO training mission that previously involved 250 Canadian troops and was led by a Canadian major general. Jenny Carignan, until conducting was transferred to Denmark in November. Canada currently has only 17 trainers participating in this mission.
Brigadier General Mike Wright, who, as commander of Joint Task Force Impact, oversees the portion of Canada’s counter-ISIL mission that does not involve special forces, said NATO is currently working with Iraq to determine the best approach to training efforts. He said he is doing so.
“We continue to work together as a Canadian force in NATO, as discussions about the future of the (Iraq training) mission will take place in Brussels,” he said, adding that the outcome of those discussions will determine Canada’s future contribution to this effort. suggested that he would. .
Canada also has a command team, two CC-130 Hercules transport aircraft, and support personnel engaged in counter-ISIS missions in Kuwait, as well as military training teams in neighboring Jordan and Lebanon.
Overall, there are about 500 Canadian troops in the region, although the federal government has authorized up to 850 Canadian troops.
Iran and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, even as the number of ISIS fighters said to be in Iraq and Syria has fallen from 14,000 to 18,000 to 8,000 to 16,000. Concerns about organizational threats are increasing.
Analysts say the mission has therefore shifted from dealing with ISIL to keeping Iran in check, but both Doe and Wright are adamant that the focus remains on ISIS, also known as Daesh. argued as.
“Our mission is to defeat Daesh,” Wright said. “So that’s what we continue to focus on. …Obviously we’re keeping an eye on other threats in the region for situational awareness and protection of our forces.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2021.
