Party caucuses talk Iraq as Harper decides next step
Posted October 1, 2014 6:17 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s down to some serious business Wednesday as the party caucuses gather on Parliament Hill to discuss, among other things, Canada’s potential commitment to an anti-extremist war in northern Iraq.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons on Tuesday that no decisions have been made.
At the same time, he gave indications that members of Parliament could soon be debating a proposal to send Canadians into a combat role to assist the U.S. and other allies in fighting Islamic militants.
The U.N. mission in Baghdad says at least 1,119 Iraqis died in violence in September but that the real figure was likely much higher since the organization’s death toll does not include killings in areas controlled by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Wednesday’s statement says 854 civilians and 265 members of the Iraqi security forces were killed, and that 1,946 Iraqis were wounded last month.
The worst-hit city was Baghdad, with 352 civilians killed.
The United Nations says the figures are the “absolute minimum” number of casualties and they do not include deaths in the western Anbar province or other militant-held parts of northern Iraq.
The August death toll stood at 1,420. In June, 2,400 were killed as Sunni militants swept across Iraq, the highest figure since at least April 2005.
