Two CF-18s attacked a militant fighting position near Mosul Wednesday during the Canadian Forces鈥� most recent airstrike as part of its mission against ISIS in Iraq.
The details about Canada鈥檚 latest bombing mission were provided Thursday during a teleconference by Col. Daniel Constable, commander of Joint Task Force-Iraq.
For Wednesday鈥檚 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.
鈥�(ISIS militants) have erected defensive fighting positions and safe havens, places where they can engage from,鈥� Constable said.
鈥淎nd so at the request of the Iraqi forces, we were tasked with taking those fighting positions out.鈥�
With the 鈥渟afe havens鈥� destroyed, ISIS militants can no longer launch attacks again, or hide from, Iraqi forces, he said.
Meanwhile, the latest statistics on Canada鈥檚 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鈥檚 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.
