Air strikes in Iraq (updated 9 Dec. 2014)

9 December 2014 Ministry of Defence

British forces have continued to conduct air operations to assist the Iraqi government in its fight against ISIL.

Military support to the Iraqi government in their fight against ISIL continues, with Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft conducting further strikes overnight.

In the north-west of the country, a patrol of RAF Tornado GR4s was tasked by coalition air controllers to investigate an ISIL site near Mount Sinjar.

The aircraft identified an observation tower and guard room in use by the terrorists at a checkpoint controlling a road junction.

These were being used to deny the local population any freedom of movement and both were attacked with Brimstone missiles.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a RAF Reaper providing surveillance for Iraqi ground forces observed a hostile armoured personnel carrier and successfully attacked it with a Hellfire missile.

8 December: RAF Tornado GR4s have struck further ISIL targets over the weekend while flying in support of Iraqi ground forces. On Friday, an armed reconnaissance patrol of GR4s investigated a reported ISIL position near Rawa in western Iraq. An observation tower and nearby equipment were located and attacked with Paveway IV guided bombs. In the early hours of Saturday morning, a further GR4 patrol in the same area also successfully attacked an ISIL armoured personnel carrier using a Brimstone missile. On Sunday, 2 Tornados were on reconnaissance when Iraqi troops reported coming under fire from terrorists in the vicinity of Bayji. The RAF aircraft responded rapidly, and when they arrived on the scene were able to spot the ISIL position. Since the target was in a built-up area, a very careful assessment was made in cooperation with another coalition surveillance aircraft, and the aircrew used the small and extremely precise Brimstone missile to carry out a successful attack which struck the enemy position. Early this morning, a fourth Tornado patrol operating in north-western Iraq, around Mount Sinjar, located 2 ISIL armoured personnel carriers and hit them with Brimstone missiles.

3 December: RAF aircraft struck a large concentration of ISIL vehicles last night as the UK continued its work as part of an international coalition in the fight against terrorism. Two RAF Tornado GR4s were tasked to investigate reported ISIL activity near Fallujah. A group of ISIL vehicles, including armed pick-up trucks and lorries, was identified and, having confirmed that there were no civilians or friendly forces in close proximity, the jets dropped a cluster of Paveway IV precision guided bombs on the vehicle group. A single truck appeared to survive the initial strike, but was accounted for by a Brimstone missile. A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft also saw action over Iraq, attacking an ISIL vehicle with a Hellfire missile. Combined with the targeted military action in northern Iraq, a British Army training team continues to provide infantry training to Kurdish peshmerga.

1 December: A Tornado GR4 patrol investigated a reported ISIL compound near Tal Afar in north-western Iraq and found a group of armoured personnel carriers. These were successfully attacked using Brimstone missiles. A further pair of Tornado GR4s came to the support of Iraqi forces engaged in a major firefight with ISIL near Tikrit. Two terrorist positions were identified and the precision of the Brimstone missile system allowed both targets to be engaged without risk to friendly forces. Meanwhile, an RAF Reaper remotely piloted aircraft on a separate patrol was able to attack 3 ISIL positions with Hellfire missiles. Another Reaper conducted a reconnaissance patrol in northern Iraq. Two ISIL positions and a vehicle were located by the Reaper’s crew, allowing coalition fast jets to conduct strikes on each in turn. The Reaper then identified a further ISIL position and engaged it with 1 of its own Hellfire missiles.