Operation IMPACT | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Military intervention against ISIL and the war on terror | |||||||
A Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 flies over Iraq in support of Operation IMPACT on 4 March 2015. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Canada | Islamic State | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Former
| |||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Military of ISIL | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
| Up to 200,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 killed (friendly fire) | Unknown |
On 3 October 2014, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that he would put forth a motion to send forces to participate in the coalition for military intervention against ISIL by deploying combat aircraft.[14] On 7 October 2014, the House of Commons approved of sending nine aircraft to join coalition airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq along with 69 special forces advisors to train the Iraqi government's military.[15][16] The Canadian Armed Forces' contribution to the coalition against ISIL was later dubbed Operation IMPACT.[17] On 30 March 2015, the House of Commons voted to extend the mission to targets in Syria. No additional forces were announced.[18]
In late November 2015, new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the withdrawal of Canada's fighter aircraft from the fight against ISIL, but their surveillance and transport and refuelling aircraft would remain in the area.[19] All airstrikes by the Canadian fighter aircraft ended as of 15 February 2016.[20] As part of the Canadian reorganization of the operation in February 2016, it was announced the number of military trainers would triple to a total of 600 ground personnel.[21] This force was later augmented in mid-May 2016 by three Bell CH-146 Griffon helicopters.[22]
On 20 July 2016, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced that Canada was deploying a field hospital in support of United States and French troops in their effort to retake Mosul. The hospital required 60 personnel; however, the minister said that the number of committed to the overall operation would not climb. The hospital's deployment would be for one year.[23]
On 7 January 2020, the Canadian Armed Forces announced that Operation Impact would be suspended following the assassination of the Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Iraq earlier in the month, with some non-essential personnel being moved to Kuwait. On 16 January, it was announced that operations had resumed.
In March 2021, the Canadian government extended the military mission against the remnants of ISIS by another year, and pledged to commit $43.6 million to stabilization programs in Iraq and Syria.[24] The mission was once again extended by one year in March 2022[25] and again extended to 31 March 2025 in March 2023.[26]
NatPost3Oct
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).CBC8Oc14
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).barton1
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).GovFeb16
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha>
tags or {{efn}}
templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
template or {{notelist}}
template (see the help page).