Two CF-18s attacked a militant fighting position near Mosul Wednesday during the Canadian Forces’ most recent airstrike as part of its mission against ISIS in Iraq.
The details about Canada’s latest bombing mission were provided Thursday during a teleconference by Col. Daniel Constable, commander of Joint Task Force-Iraq.
For Wednesday’s mission, the CF-18s joined coalition aircraft to hit ISIS defensive fighting positions 100 km north of Mosul, from where militants can launch attacks against Iraqi forces, Constable said.
“(ISIS militants) have erected defensive fighting positions and safe havens, places where they can engage from,” Constable said.
“And so at the request of the Iraqi forces, we were tasked with taking those fighting positions out.”
With the “safe havens” destroyed, ISIS militants can no longer launch attacks again, or hide from, Iraqi forces, he said.
Meanwhile, the latest statistics on Canada’s mission against ISIS include:
- 206 sorties flown by all aircraft up to Dec. 18.
- 130 sorties by the CF-18s, 36 by the Polaris refuelling aircraft, and 40 by the Aurora surveillance planes.
- 1.9 million litres of fuel delivered by the Polaris to both Canadian and coalition aircraft.
Canada has deployed six CF-18s, a C-150 Polaris refuelling aircraft, and two CP-140 Aurora surveillance planes for its contribution to the bombing campaign against ISIS in Iraq. Some 600 Canadian personnel are also part of Canada’s mission, which is based in Kuwait.
A few dozen Canadian Forces personnel are also in northern Iraq to arm and train Iraqi Forces and Kurdish fighters in the region.
The six-month mission began at the end of October, and Parliament will have to consider whether to extend the mission.
On Thursday, Constable said he has prepared contingency plans either for a continuation of the mission, or for a redeployment if the federal government votes to end the mission after six months.
He acknowledged that the fight against ISIS will likely take years.
