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Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his government next week will table a proposal for an “extension and expansion” of the mission in Iraq against the Islamic State, and didn’t rule out going into neighbouring Syria.

The federal government’s current six-month mission in Iraq against Islamic State militants – part of an international effort – is set to expire April 7 and there has been mounting expectation the government will prolong the mission until possibly after a federal election scheduled for Oct. 19, 2015.

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Several dozen special forces troops have been deployed to northern Iraq since September, while six fighter jets, two surveillance aircraft, a refuelling plane and around 600 support personnel have been based in Kuwait since October.

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Harper said Wednesday that his government is now prepared to officially request another mandate from Parliament to extend and expand the military mission that has seen Canadian soldiers on the front lines and has led to a death of one Canadian soldier and three others injured in a friendly fire accident with Kurdish soldiers.