Iraqi government delayed deployment of Canadian military hospital: Sajjan
OTTAWA — Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is blaming the Iraqi government for holding up a Canadian military hospital that was supposed to be available to treat casualties during the attack on Mosul, which started last week.
“There were some delays from the Iraqi government side of getting all the resources in,” Sajjan said Tuesday. “From our side, all the resources were put into place for getting all the necessary people and equipment into place.”
Sajjan was speaking from Paris, where defence ministers from about a dozen countries gathered to discuss the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as well as what to do after Mosul is liberated from ISIL.
Canada pledged the hospital and 50 medical personnel in July specifically because of the upcoming operation to free Iraq’s second largest city, which ISIL militants captured in June 2014.