Canadian warplanes launch first airstrike in Iraq

TORONTO — Canadian warplanes involved in the US-led bombing campaign against militants in Iraq have launched their first airstrikes since deploying to the region.

A statement from Defense Minister Rob Nicholson’s office on Sunday said two fighter jets attacked targets in the vicinity of Fallujah with laser-guided bombs and safely returned to their base in Kuwait. Few other details were immediately released.

“Today’s strike demonstrates our government’s firm resolve to tackle the threat of terrorism and to stand with our allies against ISIL’s [another acronym for the Islamic State] atrocities against innocent women, children and men,” Nicholson said in a statement, cited in the Globe and Mail.

Canada has deployed six CF-18s along with a C-150 Polaris and two CP-140 Aurora surveillance aircraft as its contribution to the bombing campaign against the Islamic State group, which has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria. About Canadian 600 airmen and airwomen are involved.

Following a request from the US, Canada’s Parliament voted last month to authorize the airstrikes. The motion authorized air strikes in Iraq for up to six months and explicitly stated that no ground troops be used in combat operations.

Canada is among dozens of countries that have joined the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group.