Canada to launch airstrikes in Iraq

TORONTO — Canada plans to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq following a U.S. request, Canada's prime minister announced Friday.

The combat mission must be voted on in Parliament but Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government has the majority of seats so it is expected to pass.

Harper said the motion authorizes air strikes for up to six months and explicitly states that no ground troops be used in combat operations.

The new combat mission includes handful of CF-18 fighter jets, a refueling tanker aircraft and surveillance planes. Further humanitarian assistance will also be provided.

Canada is among dozens of countries that have signed up to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.

Canada has more than two dozen military advisers already in Iraq as part of an effort to advise Kurdish forces against Islamic militants after a request from President Barack Obama. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes tweeted last month that the U.S. welcomed Harper's announcement that Canada would send military advisers to Iraq as part of the U.S. effort to support Kurdish forces. Canada also earlier contributed two military cargo planes that carried weapons to Kurdish fighters.

Opposition parties have been pressing Harper to be more transparent about Canada's plans. Harper's government won the support of the opposition parties for air strikes in Libya in 2011 but his party's majority means he doesn't need their support. A motion is expected to be debated and voted on Monday.

Canada's former Liberal government refused a request to send troops when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, straining ties between the two neighbors. Canada then stepped up its Afghanistan mission.

Harper formally ended Canada's combat role in Afghanistan in 2011. The mission cost 157 soldiers their lives since 2002, shocking Canadians unaccustomed to seeing their troops die in battle.