TORONTO, Canada – Canadian jets carried out the first combat strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) positions in Iraq on Sunday, a fortnight after deadly terrorist attacks in Toronto and Montreal.

“Canada’s CF-18s conducted their first combat strike since joining the fight against ISIL,” Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson said, using another acronym for the jihadi group.

He said the “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 said the Canadian jets, together with coalition partners, hit targets in the vicinity of Fallujah,” west of Baghdad. The approximately four-hour mission included air-to-air refuelling from Canada's C-150 Polaris aircraft.

Canada’s part in the military action against ISIS follows an October 22 terror attack in which a radicalised gunman killed a soldier at an Ottawa war memorial and attempted to storm the capital’s parliament building. That came only days after another radicalised man killed a soldier in Montreal.

Authorities estimate that some 130 Canadians are involved in terrorist groups abroad, particularly in Syria and Iraq.

Canada has deployed six CF-18 jet fighters, two CP-140 Aurora surveillance planes and a refuelling jet at undisclosed air fields in Kuwait.

Rudaw