Sweden connects to the fight against IS – Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet

– The security situation in the area is difficult, says Stefan Ring, military strategic expert at the Swedish National Defence College.

The first in the insert should be able to go back in June. And the government is proposing that the armed strength of 35 men, if necessary, be extended to 120 men.

How dangerous the work is for the Swedish troops depends on the type of task they are given, says Stefan Ring. Most vulnerable are the troops if they act as advisors during military operations, as happened in Afghanistan.

– It is risky, definitely, but I am convinced that they send their ablest officers.

Armed Forces want safety, do not reveal any details about the operation, other than that it is about a training program that will operate in northern Iraq.

– This is a very special situation, effort and task, says Philip Simon , press officer at the Armed Forces.

A source in the Armed Forces with experience in the ISAF-led mission in Afghanistan says that every assignment is unique, but that the defense has a broad educational base in the luggage.

– The case involved the training of troops at several levels, policemen and even colleagues in ISAF, from Germany, for example, says he said.

The program can spin from purely military tactics, how to work effectively in a team , how to act in special situations such as kidnappings, or how to work behind enemy lines, for example to retrieve the hostages.

– In Afghanistan, it was very much on operation planning and tactics in the terrain, such as how to move and defuses bombs.

Sweden has conducted several reconnaissance trips to Iraq and prepared the operation very carefully, according to Foreign Minister Margot Wallström (S). She emphasizes that the operation takes place in an unsettled area.

– It may be that they (the strength) can be forced to act in a way that goes beyond self-defense of one’s own person, she said.

– The key is that Iraq has asked for this effort, and we know a lot about how peshmerga working.

Wallström says that the Kurdish forces in northern Iraq may need everything from weapons training to learn the track mines.

– There may be such as staff services and medical care, for example, but we try not to be so detailed in describing exactly what to do. But they should not be fighting units.

The proposal to send the Swedish military to Iraq is anchored in parliament.