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Canada has sent a small team of Canadian Army engineers to observe ongoing explosive-threat training the Iraqi military is receiving under a NATO program. This is the first step in plans to have Canadian combat engineers providing such training to the Iraqis later this fall.

The size of the team, and exactly where it will be operating in Iraq, has yet to be determined. But most of the combat engineers will come from Garrison Petawawa, according to the Canadian military.

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The training will involve counter-IED as well as other skills to deal with explosive devices.

In addition, the Petawawa-based combat engineers will be called upon by Canada’s special forces. About a dozen will be sent to Iraq help improve fortifications and bolster force protection for both special forces as well as the Kurds they are training.