Some of the 500 Canadian troops stationed in Iraq will leave the country for neighbouring Kuwait in the next few days, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jonathan Vance said Tuesday.

Vance described the move as temporary in his first public comments since the U.S. assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani near a Baghdad airport. The announcement that some of Canada’s forces would be moved were made in a letter signed by Vance and posted by the Canadian Armed Forces on Twitter.

The Chief of the Defence Staff breaks his silence on the situation in Iraq. He says some of Canada’s 500 soldiers in Iraq will be moved to Kuwait. https://t.co/WbLqMoNhga — Charlie Pinkerton (@CharliePinkerto) January 7, 2020

“Over the coming days, and as a result of Coalition and NATO planning, some of our people will be moved temporarily from Iraq to Kuwait,” Vance said. “Simply put, we are doing this to ensure their safety and security.”

As a result of the movement of soldiers to Kuwait, some troops’ leave and rotation from their tours will be interrupted, Vance said.

Up to 250 of the Canadian soldiers in Iraq are there as part of a NATO-organized mission led by Canadian commanders that is training Iraqi soldiers. The non-NATO troops in Iraq are stationed there as part of a Canadian mission that’s linked to preventing ISIS from restoring a strengthened presence in the region. As well as Kuwait and Iraq, Canada also has soldiers in Jordan, Lebanon and Qatar for that purpose.

NATO’s training mission was suspended over the weekend to ensure that its soldiers would remain safe.

After holding an emergency meeting with the alliance’s planning body on Monday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said training would restart when “the situation permits” and did not mention the withdrawal of troops.

Over the weekend, Iraq’s parliament voted in favour of a non-binding resolution to remove foreign troops from the country.

READ MORE: NATO secretary general dismisses idea that training group would be kicked out of Iraq

Vance was pictured meeting Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, deputy minister of defence Jody Thomas and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.

Trudeau also discussed the situation in Iraq with Stoltenberg Monday, according to a press release sent by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“They agreed on the important role of the NATO training mission in strengthening Iraqi security capacity. The Secretary General noted that the suspension of NATO training activities is a temporary force protection measure and that NATO is prepared to continue its activities when the situation permits,” the press release from PMO said.

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