OTTAWA - The House of Commons of Canada passed a motion Monday to extend and expand the country's military mission against the Islamic State (IS) extremist militant group.

According to the motion, Canada's military forces will launch airstrikes against IS in Syria for the first time and extend their mission up to 12 months.

Canada has worked closely for the past six months as part of a broad US-led international miliary coalition to help strike hard against the IS.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he is pleased that the House of Commons has passed the motion supporting his government's decision to extend and expand military mission against IS.

"While the Coalition has succeeded in stopping IS territorial spread, the global threat that IS poses remains. In particular, we cannot stand on the sidelines while IS continues to promote terrorism in Canada as well as against our allies and partners, nor can we allow it to have a safe haven in Syria," Harper said.

"The mission will remain focused on targeting IS from the air and advising and assisting Iraqi forces to fight IS more effectively on the ground," he added.