OTTAWA – Canadian airstrikes against the militants group in Iraq will be extended one year to March 2016 and may see sorties into Syria, the government said on Tuesday

But no ground combat troops would be deployed under the plan, which is to be debated in parliament on Thursday. Prime Minister Stephen Harper read a motion in the House outlining the mission add-on. With his Conservative majority, the motion is assured of passage. The original military mission started in November with Canadian war planes joining US-led airstrikes on militants.

Canada also deployed about 70 special forces troops to train Kurds in northern Iraq. A clash mid-January in which the Canadians came under mortar and machine gun fire while training Iraqi troops near the front lines, as well as the March 6 friendly fire death of a Canadian soldier, have underscored political divisions in Ottawa over the fight against militants. The opposition has accused Harper of lying when he first outlined parameters of the mission to parliament in October, which were supposed to limit ground forces to a non-combat role.

Dawn.com