The Royal Australian Air Force has conducted its first combat mission in Syria, one year after Australia joined the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition.
The air campaign was carried out on Saturday. Two F/A-18A Hornets and two other aircraft took part in the mission. The four warplanes returned without dropping any bombs.
"The Australian Air Task Group completed its first operational mission in Syria overnight, returning to base in the Middle East without incident," the country's defence department said, according to AFP. "No weapons were released during the mission."
"Daesh controls a large amount of territory in eastern Syria that serves as a source of recruitment and oil revenues, and as a base from which it continues to launch attacks into Iraq," Australian Air Task Group Commander Stu Bellingham said, the Daily Mail reported.
"The Hornets were also prepared for any short notice high priority tasking which could include surveillance and weapons release," Bellingham added.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott also confirmed the mission. "Our planes are now striking at terrorist targets inside Syria as well as in Iraq too," Abbott said on Wednesday, according to ABC News.
Abbott also made it clear that the Aussie combat mission will be targeting the Islamic State locations in Syria and not the Bashar al-Assad regime.
"This is very much in Australia's national interest. Destroying this death cult is essential, not just to ending the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East but also to ending the threat to Australia and the wider world," the Australian premier said.
