Islamic State and Militia Members

: Clouds of smoke stained the horizon, likely from fires started by extremist fighters in hopes that the smoke would prevent coalition jets flying overhead from spotting their targets, one defence official told reporters, according to Hamilton Spectator. Just five months ago, the very ground Harper was standing on was held by Islamic State fighters. With binoculars in hand, Harper gazed out over gently rolling hills at the terrain still held by Islamic State militia barely 10 kilometres away. They've been beaten back, thanks to Kurdish peshmerga militia trained by Canadian special operations forces soldiers. Everything I have seen is that the cooperation and morale among the two forces is tremendous," he said. After meeting with some of the militia members and getting a demonstration of some of the skills, Harper paid tribute to their courage. "Back last summer, when ISIS was literally overrunning this country with no resistance at all, these were the people who stood up and resisted them and stopped them in this area and they didn't do it with any of the training they are getting today or the equipment," Harper told reporters. "They did because they had to and they came to the protection of other minority groups that ISIS is targeting in this part of the country," he said. "This is an investment and people have proven their worth. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.