Canadian troops supporting Kurds in fight to free Mosul from ISIL: Sajjan
OTTAWA — Canadian troops are supporting Kurdish fighters as they push toward the Iraqi city of Mosul, says Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.
Kurdish and Iraqi military forces launched the much-anticipated offensive Monday in a bid to free Iraq’s second-largest city from the clutches of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
The operation is seen as a key moment in the fight against ISIL as the city of more than 1 million is the extremist group’s last bastion in Iraq.
Local media reported that the Kurds, whom Canadian troops have helped train over the past two years, freed several villages during the drive to Mosul. At least six Kurdish fighters were killed and 16 others wounded during the first day of fighting.