AFP – Oct. 05, 2014 – Australian fighter jets have flown their first armed combat mission in Iraq against the Islamic State group but did not launch air strikes, the military said Monday.
“The Super Hornet aircraft conducted an air interdiction and close air support mission over northern Iraq overnight,” the Australian Defense Force said in a statement.
The flights are the first since the Australian government on Friday authorized strikes on ISIS militants in Iraq.
Canberra is also deploying 200 soldiers to Iraq, including Special Forces, to advise Iraqi and Kurdish troops but has yet to receive the final approval from the Iraqi government.
Australia is part of the international coalition conducting an air campaign against ISIS that the United States has been building since first launching air strikes in August.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has spoken strongly against ISIS, saying the decision to support international operations is in Australia’s national interest.
“The beheadings, the crucifixions, mass executions, ethnic cleansing and sexual slavery that are occurring in northern Iraq and Syria, are only the beginning if ISIL has its way,” he said on Saturday.