MOSCOW, October 8 (RIA Novosti) - Washington has welcomed Canada's decision to join the US-led anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition in an effort to contain the spread of Islamist insurgency in the Middle East, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Wednesday.
"We certainly were pleased about the vote in Canada and I am confident that, if American officials haven't yet, they will soon get in close touch with their partners in Canada about what sort of contribution the Canadians prepare to make to this broader international coalition," Josh Earnest said.
He stressed that the success of the air campaign against the brutal Islamist terror group depended on the involvement of a broader international coalition.
More than 60 nations have so far declared they were ready to back up the international anti-IS effort, according to the White House spokesman.
The statement comes a day after the Canadian parliament authorized airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq for six months. The motion was introduced last week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative party and debated earlier this week. It states explicitly that no ground troops will be involved.
The IS Sunni extremist group has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and proclaimed an Islamic caliphate on the areas it controls. Its rapid advance in northern Iraq triggered a response from Washington, which launched airstrikes against the insurgents fighting on the Iraqi soil back in August. The military action was subsequently extended to Syria with international coalition taking part in air raids.
