Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornets depart after refueling with a KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, Thursday, on Oct. 30, 2014, over Iraq. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Perry Aston
January 05, 2015 - 1:17 PM
OTTAWA - Canadian jets flew four attack missions against militant targets in Iraq on New Year's Day, National Defence says.
In its latest briefing on the allied air campaign against the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the military says the CF-18 strikes hit fighting positions and storage facilities.
The four jets used precision-guided munitions against their targets.
The military says its Air Task Force-Iraq had conducted 295 sorties as of the weekend.
A sortie is one flight by a single aircraft.
The CF-18 fighter-bombers had conducted 188 sorties, while the Polaris aerial refueller had flown 51 sorties and delivered more than 1.25 million kilograms of fuel to coalition aircraft.
The air force's Aurora reconnaissance aircraft flew 56 missions.
Approximately 600 Canadians are deployed in Iraq as part of the coalition force. They include pilots and technical staff, liaison officers, command and control personnel, medical and logistics staff.
They are operating six CF-18s from Cold Lake, Alta., a Polaris tanker from Trenton, Ont., and two Aurora surveillance planes from Greenwood, N.S., all supported by transport planes from Trenton, Ont.
The task force was sent out in October for a six-month mission.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2015