Canada’s newly elected liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will follow through on his campaign promise to pull Canadian fighter jets out of the U.S.-led bombing campaign against Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
Mr. Trudeau, who’s victory in Monday put the liberal party back in power in Canada after nearly a decade of conservative rule, said he has already informed U.S. President Obama of his plans, CNN reported.
“He understands the commitments I’ve made around ending the combat mission,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters Tuesday. He did not specify when Canada’s airstrikes would end.
He added that Canada would remain “a strong member of the coalition” against the Islamic State group but would “engage in a responsible way,” CNN reported.
Mr. Trudeau will take office in the coming weeks, replacing conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who sent Canadian jets to carry out airstrikes against the jihadist group in November 2014.
As of last week, Canada’s six Hornet fighters in the region had flown 1,046 sorties in the anti-ISIS operation, according to the military, which didn’t specify how many of the flights involved airstrikes. Other aircraft have conducted hundreds of refueling and reconnaissance missions.
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Mr. Trudeau’s party wants to provide more humanitarian aid in Iraq and Syria and plans to have Canada’s military engage more in training rather than bombing missions.
In a statement following the phone call between Mr. Obama and Mr. Trudeau, the White House did not mention the Canadian leader’s plans to withdraw airplanes from the coalition. It said the two leaders “committed to strengthening the countries’ joint efforts” on combatting terrorism and other issues, CNN reported.
As of early October, the coalition had carried out more than 7,000 strikes, nearly two-thirds of them in Iraq, according to the Pentagon. The U.S. military has conducted close to 80 percent of all the strikes.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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