Canada’s top general says the Canadian Armed Forces will be training and equipping a battalion of Kurdish special forces as part of its efforts to fight the so-called Islamic State.

AhlulBayt News Agency - As part of its contribution to the international efforts to fight the Islamic State (IS), the Canadian armed forces has decided to train and equip a battalion of Kurdish special forces.



Canadian Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance revealed in a meeting with Senate Defence Committee on Monday that Canada will be providing military training courses and equipment to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Northern Iraq, the National Post reported.



Describing the mustard and chlorine gas weapons as “rudimentary” and “small-scale”, the Canadian army official confirmed that IS has access to chemical weapons.



Kurdish Peshmerga forces, known as one of the most effective ground forces fighting IS, recently reported that the jihadists have attacked them with chemical weapons eight times.



However, Vance told the senators, Canada does not have a specific number of Peshmerga fighters it wants to train over the next year.



“We’re not building an army,” he said. “We’re building an effect that will last as along as it needs to last.”



The Canadian government announced last month that it will be increasing the number of its military personnel in the Kurdistan Region to 200 with providing “lethal aid” to the Peshmerga.



“One of the programs will be a program to try and take conventional forces and give them a bit more focused training,” Vance continued. “That is where we’re going to equip people. So try to take roughly … 300 to 400 (Kurds), give them training for months (and) equip them so they have a stronger core of more professional fighters.”









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