Australian Jets Conduct First Mission against Islamic State in Iraq | WPN World People News

Australian jets have flown their first combat mission over Iraq as part of the international effort to combat Islamic State militants.

Australia's Defense Ministry said Monday that two of its aircraft conducted the mission overnight over northern Iraq, but that neither fired on any targets.

The flights come days after the country's Cabinet approved deploying fighter aircraft and special forces to Iraq. The Defense Ministry said Monday it is still waiting on the Iraqi government to approve the special forces to begin "advice and assist operations in Iraq."

U.S. forces have conducted weeks of airstrikes in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State group. The military said Sunday the most recent strikes included destroying tanks and firing on positions in Raqqa and Al Mayadin in Syria, as well as hitting Islamic State targets near Fallujah, Hit and Sinjar in Iraq.

Also Sunday, five people were wounded when a mortar shell crashed into a house in Turkey, kilometers from a fierce battle between Islamic State militants and Kurdish fighters in the Syrian border town of Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab.

Witnesses said the injuries were not life-threatening. The origin of the shell was not clear.

Turkey has deployed its military to the frontier after lawmakers voted last week to allow troops to engage in Syria and Iraq, but they have not yet intervened.

In the United States, the parents of a U.S. aid worker threatened in the Islamic State's latest beheading video say their son wrote a letter in June saying he is "scared to die."

Ed and Paula Kassig told reporters that their son Abdul-Rahman, also known as Peter, wrote that if he dies, at least he did so "trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need."

The 26-year-old Kassig was captured a year ago in Syria while helping refugees there fleeing the country's civil war.

He converted to Islam before his capture, and wrote that he prayed every day, was not angry about his situation and was "at peace" with his beliefs.

Islamic State militants threatened his life last week in a video showing the apparent beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning, who was the fourth Western captive the group has shown beheaded in recent weeks.

The militants say they are killing the men in retaliation for the U.S.-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.

Source: Voice of America