ISIS targets elusive as CF-18s support humanitarian aid drop

The Canadian military is defending its mission in Iraq.

In hisweekly briefing with the media Thursday, Col. Daniel Constable said the Canadian Forces hadn't hit any ISIS targets since last week's briefing.

However, Constable said CF-18 fighter jets did supporta humanitarian aid drop by another coalition country that included water, tents and blankets.

While Canada wasn't involved in any airstrikes, Constable said other coalition countries were.

"I think we can't look at it through the national lens; we have to look at it through the coalition lens," he said.

Canada has conducted four airstrikes against targets believed to belong to militants fighting with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The most recent airstrikes by Canadian jets wereon Nov. 17.

That mission targeted a warehouse used for training and manufacturing improvised explosive devices, according to a statement issued last week by Defence Minister Rob Nicholson.

Nicholson would not bite this week when asked what cost estimates the military has given for the six-month mission.

"[The costs]will be reported, you know, in the normal way, usually within 90 days of the completion of the mission the costs are tabled," Nicholson told MPs on the Commons defence committee Tuesday.

Canada's six CF-18 fighter jets, two Aurora surveillance aircraft and a refuelling plane join the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS on Oct. 30.

The opposition parties voted against the government's decision to join the air combat mission, complaining the objectives were vague and that Canada's resources could be better deployed in other ways.