Five Czech police officers have returned to Iraq after being recalled from the country 16 days ago when their training mission was interrupted due to heightened regional tensions, Czech police announced on Twitter on Saturday
PRAGUE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2020) Five Czech police officers have returned to Iraq after being recalled from the country 16 days ago when their training mission was interrupted due to heightened regional tensions, Czech police announced on Twitter on Saturday.
"Five Czech police officers who were recalled to their homeland due to the temporary suspension of their training mission with their Iraqi counterparts have returned to Baghdad on Saturday. Our police are part of the global coalition against Islamic State [IS, terrorist organization banned in Russia], and participate in the training of Iraqi police officers," the police's Twitter post read.
Training operations in Iraq conducted by Czech police officers were interrupted after the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airpor on January 3. Iraq's parliament later called for military and civilian personnel participating in the US-led coalition against IS to be expelled from the country.
Czech police have been working in Iraq since 2017, and predominantly provide operational, tactical and administrative training for their Iraqi counterparts. On January 7, Czech military staff spokeswoman Lt. Magdalena Dvorakova said that 24 military police officers and 13 military personnel from a chemical defense unit would remain in Iraq despite the escalation in tensions.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis said earlier in January that there was no threat to Czech citizens, police and military personnel in Iraq. According to the prime minister, the situation in the middle Eastern country is stabilizing, and tensions are decreasing.
