OTTAWA—The Harper government isn’t planning to increase the size of its special forces contingent in northern Iraq if Canada’s combat mission in the country is extended, Defence Minister Jason Kenney said Wednesday, March 11.
There has been flurry of speculation about how the deployment might be restructured as the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria evolves and local forces conduct further offensives to drive extremists out of the country.
“I can tell you there is no planning to increase the commitment of 69 special operators in the region,” Kenney told the Commons defence committee.
“I’m not aware of any increase in infrastructure to support them. We certainly have no intention of increasing the number of SOF operators.”
The declaration stands in contrast to the country’s allies, notably the United States, New Zealand, and Australia, which recently decided to put 300 more soldiers on the ground to assist with training Iraqi forces.
