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As the Conservative government contemplates sending CF-18 fighter jets into Iraq, Canadian pilots may soon be bombing some of the same gunmen their actions supported several years ago elsewhere.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, which has seized parts of Syria and Iraq, includes a large number of volunteers from Libya who fought in the 2011 uprising that overthrew dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

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Extremist organizations such as Ansar al Sharia Libya, a jihadist group that formed during the uprising against Gadhafi, has provided trained fighters for ISIL.

The Royal Canadian Air Force played a key role in the NATO bombing campaign against Gadhafi’s forces. Those airstrikes destroyed large parts of Libya’s military and are credited with allowing the group of rag-tag militias and assorted armed groups to eventually seize control of the country.

“Certainly some of the players in ISIL are going to be the same people who fought Gadhafi,” said Martin Shadwick, a defence analyst with York University. “The ability of these forces to move across borders, to fight in each other’s battles, is something that should be looked at more closely in the future.”