Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornets depart after refueling with a KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014, over Iraq.Staff Sgt. Perry Aston/The Canadian Press
Canadian fighter jets hit a piece of artillery used by Islamic State militants during an air strike in Iraq on Tuesday, the federal government says.
The Department of National Defence confirmed that coalition forces carried out a series of air strikes near Beiji, an area north of Baghdad where the extremist group is known to operate.
"On November 11, a CAF CF-18 Hornet successfully struck an ISIL artillery piece by using laser-guided ammunition," the statement says, referring to the group by its former name, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Defence Minister Rob Nicholson issued a statement on Tuesday, commending the 600 Canadian troops involved in coalition air strikes. "This strike demonstrates Canada's firm resolve to tackle the threat of terrorism and stand with our allies against [Islamic State] atrocities against innocent women, children and men," he said.
He also noted that the attacks had occurred on Remembrance Day, at a time when Canadians are reflecting on the sacrifice of veterans and members of the military.
Mr. Nicholson's spokesperson, Johanna Quinney, said the Department of Defence would offer a more detailed briefing on the air strike on Thursday.
The air strike came as Iraqi state television and a local politician announced that security forces had recaptured most of Beiji from IS militants. The town, 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, is home to the country's largest oil refinery and will likely become a base for a future push by Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces toward the south.
A small army unit occupying the refinery had been resisting Islamic State attacks since June.
The U.S. Department of Defence had earlier said that a total of 18 air strikes were carried out in Iraq between Nov. 7 and 10, including some near Beiji that struck three small IS units, a sniper position and two of the group's vehicles.
Last month, Canada joined the U.S.-led coalition battling IS militants, and Canadian CF-18 jets struck equipment believed to be held by the Islamic State on Nov. 2. The coalition air strikes are aimed at supporting Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces battling IS fighters on the ground.
The Nov. 2 strikes targeted heavy engineering equipment and vehicles near the Euphrates River in Iraq. The Canadian military said the equipment was being used to divert water from the Euphrates in order to create flooding in some areas and force Iraqi security forces and civilians to use roads containing improvised explosive devices.
Canada has sent six CF-18s, two surveillance planes, a refuelling jet and about 600 troops to contribute to coalition efforts fighting the Islamic State in Iraq, which is based in Kuwait.
With a report from the Associated Press