Canada’s Air Forces conduct first strikes against IS in Iraq

Canada's CF-18 combat jets have dropped laser-guided bombs targeting Islamic State (IS) in Iraq for the first time after joining the US-led anti-IS campaign, Department of National Defence announced Monday, according to RIA Novosti.

"Today, Canada's CF-18s conducted their first combat strike since joining the fight against ISIL on October 30. Coordinated with our coalition partners, two CF-18s attacked ISIL targets with… laser guided bombs in the vicinity of Fallujah, Iraq," Minister of National Defence Rob Nicholson said in a statement published on the Department of National Defence website.

"Today's strike demonstrates our Government's firm resolve to tackle the threat of terrorism and to stand with our allies against ISIL's atrocities against innocent women, children and men," Nicholson added.

The Islamic State, a Sunni jihadi group, has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014 the group launched an offensive in Iraq, seizing vast areas in both countries and announcing the establishment of an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.

In September US President Barack Obama announced his decision to form an international anti-IS coalition. A US-led coalition is currently carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State positions in Syria and Iraq.

In early October Canada's parliament voted to join the international coalition fighting against Islamic State in Iraq.