OTTAWA — The Canadian military says it is confident that no civilians have been killed to date as a result of its airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
That assurance came today as a spokesman for Canada's joint operations command described two additional bombing missions that took place on Nov. 28 and Nov. 30.
In the first strike, CF-18 jet fighters attacked targets near the city of Hit in the restive, Sunni-dominated province of Anbar, where Iraqi troops — supported by Shia militias — recently sought to liberate the market town 130 kilometres west of Baghdad.
The warplanes followed up with another mission two days later near Mosul, the embattled country's second largest city.
Navy Capt. Paul Forget says an enemy vehicle and mortar position, which had been harassing Iraqi forces, were destroyed in the precision-guided bombing.
The question of whether civilians had been wounded or killed in the airstrikes is raised at every briefing; Forget moved today to dispel any lingering doubts, saying there has been no indication of so-called "collateral damage."
