NATO suspends training activities in Iraq

Currently led by Canada, the hundreds-strong NATO mission in Iraq is focused on training the Iraqi personnel. Report informs citing the TASS.

NATO has suspended training missions in Iraq, a spokesman for the alliance said Saturday, following the US killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.

"NATO's mission is continuing, but training activities are currently suspended," said the spokesman, Dylan White.

He also confirmed that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had spoken by telephone with US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper "following recent developments."

The NATO mission in Iraq, which numbers in the hundreds, trains the country's security forces at the request of the Baghdad government to prevent the return of ISIS.

The mission is currently led by Canada, which earlier called for restraint in the wake of the deadly missile strike on the convoy carrying Soleimani and a leader of an Iraqi militia group.