Ottawa warns more than 20,000 Canadians there is no guaranteed Lebanon evacuation
CTV
Global Affairs Canada is warning more than 20,000 Canadians in Lebanon that they can't rely on government evacuation flights if war engulfs that country.
Global Affairs Canada is warning more than 20,000 Canadians in Lebanon that they can't rely on government evacuation flights if war engulfs that country.
The department says 21,399 Canadians have officially registered as being in Lebanon, though it expects many more are present in the country.
Canada has urged people for months to leave Lebanon and not travel there, though diaspora groups say many have gone ahead with travel plans, including visits to family.
Peer countries that had not yet ordered citizens to leave did so in recent weeks, as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon intensify.
Canada has been planning since last October for a possible evacuation of its citizens, and sent military personnel to Lebanon and Cyprus in preparation.
But Canada warns evacuations aren't always possible.
On Tuesday, Israel carried out a rare strike on the Lebanese capital city of Beirut, which it said killed a top Hezbollah commander. The commander was allegedly behind a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
