The bomb attacks aim to prevent the IS militants from advancing further in the war-torn country. The air strike was the result of the Canadian House of Commons approval of aerial troop deployment to the Middle East for six months.

Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson said that the jets dropped GBU12 500-pound laser-guided bombs during the four-hour mission that includes air-to-air refueling from its Polaris aircraft. He added that all the jets had returned safely to their base of operations in Kuwait. Canada has deployed 600 soldiers to Kuwait to support the mission.

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Nicholson said in a statement, "The strike demonstrates our government's firm resolve to tackle the threat of terrorism and to stand with our allies against [Islamic State] atrocities against innocent women, children and men."

Ottawa said the bombs had hit their intended targets, but the assessment of the damage would be available only after two days, Globe and Mail reports. The Defense Ministry briefing on the damage assessment would be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

It is the first time that Canada's CF-18 Hornets used bombs since it participated in the Coalition-led move to remove former Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi from power in 2011. The Canadian Air Force deployed the Hornets in 1991 during the first Gulf War to defeat the army of Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein in Kuwait. In 1999, Ottawa again deployed 18 of the fighter jets against the Serbian military in the Kosovo war, according to the Vancouver Sun.

Opposition leader Tom Mulclair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau criticized the deployment of the C-18s. They insisted that Canada should send humanitarian assistance, instead of bombs.

But Canadian military leaders said that the country would go beyond air strikes as it holds large-scale training of Iraqi forces for up to 12 months even if the coalition manages to weaken the attack power of the IS militants. Canada also sent 70 special forces soldiers in northern Iraq to train the Kurdish peshmerga fighters and Iraqi soldiers on battlefield communication, planning and intelligence gathering.

Tagspolitics, War Conflict, Military history of the United States, Iraq, Politics of Iraq