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The United States bombed a suspected Islamic State staging area in eastern Syria on Wednesday, as U.S. warplanes also hit the militants’ positions across the border in neighbouring Iraq, U.S. officials said.

The air strikes come a day after the U.S. and five Arab allies opened their military operation against the Islamic State group in Syria with more than 200 strikes on some two dozen targets. That campaign, which President Barack Obama has warned could last years, expands upon the aerial campaign the U.S. has already been conducting for more than a month against the extremists in Iraq.

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On top of roughly 200 munitions fired on Tuesday, 47 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from two warships, according to U.S. Central Command. That alone rivals the 253 bombs and missiles aimed at the Sunni terrorist group’s positions in neighbouring Iraq from Aug. 8 to Sept. 10.

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[np_storybar title=”Hamilton man could be first Canadian killed in anti-ISIS military campaign” link=”http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09/24/hamilton-man-could-be-first-canadian-killed-in-anti-isis-military-campaign/”]

Federal officials are trying to confirm whether a 20-year-old man from Hamilton, Ont., was killed last week during clashes between Kurdish forces and Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham fighters in northern Syria.