Norway has had its military contingent participating in the US-led military campaign in Iraq since November 2014. The main purpose is officially to train local forces capable of defeating ISIL.
First, there were a small number of staff officers, and in spring 2015 the kingdom finally deployed its soldiers: special forces, FSK, to the capital, Baghdad, and battle-tested elite mechanized infantrymen from the Telemark battalion to the Kurdish town of Erbil.
Just before the deployment, in early March, the Defense Security Department (FSA) made a security evaluation, supported by other secret services, which suggests that there is a high risk of personal data of Norwegian soldiers being transferred to ISIL due to a likely leak from Iraqi authorities, Aldrimer.no revealed.
But how did Iraqis get personal data on Norway’s ostensibly secret soldiers? Simply because they were required to fill in applications for an Iraqi visa with their real names, addresses and so on. That clearly makes their family members potential targets of terror attacks by revenge-seeking ISIL terrorists.
Despite the security risks, the contingent was still later sent to Iraq. An obvious reason for Oslo to ignore such a great security concern is heavy pressure from Washington: Americans wanted more allied boots on the ground by any means.
Last week, the Norwegian Officer Union (NOF), which was contacted by concerned soldiers and officers, stated they’ve launched an investigation to clear up whether the current deployment of Norwegian troops to Iraq does not violate the personal data legislature of the kingdom, Aldrimer.no reported.
“By providing personal information whenever, as we believe, there is no secure handling of the personnel data in place, both personnel and their family members are being put under risk,” NOF head, Egil Andre Aas told Aldrimer.no. “We wish to clarify if in this case a risk evaluation that was made corresponds to the demands of the Personal data law.”
Earlier this month, the head of the parliamentary military and foreign committee, Anniken Huitfeldt, called for a re-evaluation of the deployment of special forces’ operators and Telemark battalion infantrymen in the light of serious security concerns, according to Aldrimer.no.
Really bad night for #Norway's FSK commandos… Kabul 2012 by T Kjosvold #SOF #Forsvaret #Afghanistan #sunrise pic.twitter.com/DWZNyDnSpw
— Tom Antonov (@Tom_Antonov) October 3, 2015
ISIL is a terrorist group that has seized vast areas in Syria and Iraq, and declared an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
Since February 2015, German soldiers have been leading the training of Kurdish militias in Iraq to fight against ISIL. The training camp in Bnaslava is located in the city of Erbil in northern Iraq, just 50 kilometers away from the front. In addition to the Germans and Norwegians, there are Dutch, Italian, British, Canadian and American military advisers in Iraqi Kurdistan. They teach everything from how to use different weapons to platoon moves.
