Canada stalls shipment of 7.5 million in weaponry for Peshmerga

Canada's government has still not decided whether it will send over $7 million in weaponry once destined for Kurdish Peshmerga forces to aid in the fight against the Islamic State (IS), but stalled after the group was militarily defeated in Iraq.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Canada's government has still not decided whether it will send over $7 million in weaponry once destined for Kurdish Peshmerga forces to aid in the fight against the Islamic State (IS), but stalled after the group was militarily defeated in Iraq.

The entire aid package is comprised of $7.5 million in military material, known as "lethal aid" and $12.2 million in non-military aid.

Canada pledged the support last year, while Canadian forces were fighting IS alongside Kurdish forces as part of a US-led international coalition.

After the jihadi group was militarily defeated in Iraq in late 2017, and after the Kurdistan Region held an independence referendum, Iraq's federal government objected to the lethal aid delivery and blocked it.

The weaponry remains at a military depot in Montreal.

Canada would find itself in a difficult diplomatic position, should it decide to send the aid, as it maintains ongoing relationships with both Baghdad and Erbil.

Over 100 members of the Canadian military are currently in Iraq, but its training program in the country was suspended when Iraqi and Peshmerga forces engaged in battle in October, after Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi ordered his military to wrest control of disputed territories then under Kurdish protection.

Patricia Brunelle, a public affairs officer at Canada’s Department of National Defence, told the press that the situation “requires deliberate, responsible reflection,” and that Canadian military operations are “constantly under assessment."

“No specific delivery plans have been made by Canada as we continue examining our options,” she added.

Last month, media reports specified that grenade launchers, sniper rifles, mortars, and anti-tank rockets were among the military supplies in the intended shipment.