Finland has suspended its military training operations in northern Iraq for security reasons, Finnish Army representative Pasi Hirvonen said amid rising tensions between the United States and Iraq's neighbor Iran
HELSINKI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2019) Finland has suspended its military training operations in northern Iraq for security reasons, Finnish Army representative Pasi Hirvonen said amid rising tensions between the United States and Iraq's neighbor Iran."The training has been suspended for security reasons, we cannot tell when it will be continued," Hirvonen said, as quoted by the Finnish national broadcasting company Yle.
Germany and the Netherlands have also suspended training Iraqi soldiers this week. The move comes after the US State Department ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees from Iraq on Wednesday. Media reports suggest, however, that both countries may resume their military training missions in northern Iraq on the weekend.
Since 2015, Finland has been participating in the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), with the Finnish Crisis Management Force training Iraqi security officials at the training bases around Iraqi Kurdistan. The operation is aimed at strengthening international cooperation in countering the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia). The overall strength of the Finnish personnel in OIR is about 80 persons.
