German military resumes training troops in northern Iraq

BERLIN – The German military resumed training Iraqi troops in the country’s Kurdish north on Sunday, about three weeks after it was suspended following the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general in Baghdad.

The military said the commander of the international operation fighting the Islamic State group lifted the suspension. Germany resumed training in Irbil on Sunday morning together with its partners. The Bundeswehr has about 90 soldiers in Irbil.

However, Germany’s training mission in central Iraq is still suspended and there was no immediate word on whether or when it might resume. Germany flew 35 soldiers out of Iraq from bases in Taji and Baghdad on Jan. 7, most of them to neighbouring Jordan. That was described as a temporary measure.

The decision was made after the Jan. 3 killing by the United States of Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani drastically raised regional tensions and escalated a crisis between Washington and Tehran.