The RAF are continuing to take the fight to Daesh in Syria.
Summary
Wednesday 3 October – Tornados, working with a Reaper, destroyed a mortar position in eastern Syria. Thursday 4 October – Tornados supported a Syrian Democratic Forces attack on a Daesh position, destroying a truck-bomb, a strong-point and an improvised explosive device facility.
Friday 5 October – Typhoons bombed a terrorist command post in eastern Syria, whilst Tornados struck a Daesh compound.
Saturday 6 October – a Reaper disrupted Daesh firing on the Syrian Democratic Forces, while Typhoons and Tornados hit four terrorist mortar positions and a weapons stockpile. Sunday 7 October – a Reaper attacked a terrorist position hidden beneath trees, and Typhoons destroyed a command post in eastern Syria.
Thursday 11 October – Tornados and Typhoons conducted five attacks on Daesh positions in eastern Syria.
Friday 12 October – Tornados struck a Daesh tunnel and a defended building in eastern Syria, whilst Typhoons destroyed an armed truck.
Saturday 13 October – Typhoons bombed a terrorist strong-point, and Tornados hit a mortar position, a command post and a second strong-point in eastern Syria.
Sunday 14 October – Tornados and Typhoons bombed three Daesh command and control locations in eastern Syria.
Detail
With the Syrian Democratic Forces continuing their offensive against the last major pocket of Deash-held territory in eastern Syria, centred on Hajin, Royal Air Force aircraft have provided further intensive support. As in the previous month, a particular focus has been on terrorist positions north-east of Abu Kamal. On Wednesday 3 October, an RAF Reaper detected a Daesh mortar which was firing on SDF forces a short distance away. Two RAF Tornado GR4s were also on task in the area, and they struck the mortar position with a single Paveway IV guided bomb.
The following day, an SDF attack on a Daesh position encountered a truck-bomb which was blocking their advance towards a terrorist strong-point in a nearby building. Tornados destroyed the truck-bomb using a Brimstone missile, then demolished the strong-point with a Paveway IV. Another building in the area was then identified as not only Daesh-held, but a probable facility for further improvised truck-bombs. This target was also destroyed with a Paveway IV.
On Friday 5 October, Typhoons bombed a Daesh command post north-east of Abu Kamal using two Paveway IVs. Nearby, a flight of Tornados supported the SDF, who had come up against a Daesh-held compound. The SDF were very close to the target, but careful coordination allowed the Tornados to strike the two key buildings within the compound with Paveway IVs. A Reaper provided further support in the same area on Saturday 6 October, and an attack delivered with a GBU-12 guided bomb successfully disrupted firing by Daesh on the SDF. Typhoons and Tornados were working further north, near Hajin, and used Paveway IVs and a Brimstone missile to deal with four Daesh mortar positions and a weapons stockpile.
A Reaper’s crew successfully targeted Daesh fighters who had positioned themselves beneath trees in the Hajin area on Sunday 7 October, hitting them with a Hellfire missile. Closer to Abu Kamal, Typhoons meanwhile destroyed a terrorist command post.
Despite bad weather, our aircraft were able to provide effective close air support to the SDF at both the northern and southern ends of the Hajin pocket on Thursday 11 October. North of Hajin, a flight of Typhoons and a flight of Tornados used Paveway IVs to destroy three Daesh-held buildings which the SDF had encountered. In the south, close to the border with Iraq, a second pair of Tornados bombed two groups of terrorists spotted in in the open; one of the attacks also destroyed the extremists’ vehicle.
A Daesh armed truck was spotted north-east of Abu Kamal on Friday 12 October, and was destroyed by a direct hit from a Paveway IV dropped by a Typhoon flight. A pair of Tornados conducted one attack through thick cloud, striking a tunnel – again to the north-east of Abu Kamal – then delivered a second successful attack with two Paveways against a Daesh-held building near Hajin. On Saturday 13 October, Typhoons bombed a Daesh strong-point north of Hajin, whilst Tornados struck a second such defensive position north-east of Abu Kamal. The Tornados also attacked a mortar position and a Daesh command post in the same area, using Paveway IVs.
Our aircraft were able to attack successfully three known terrorist command and control locations on Sunday 14 October, all in and around Hajin. Typhoons dealt with two of the targets, including one where a Daesh attack planning team were reported to be present at the time, whilst Tornados destroyed the third.
UK contribution to the fight against Daesh
Campaign against Daesh
Previous update
A Reaper supported the SDF on Wednesday 12 September as they mounted an offensive towards Abu Kamal, at the southern end of the one significant remaining pockets of Daesh-held territory in eastern Syria, near Hajin. Daesh fighters were observed in action on the outskirts of a village to the east of Abu Kamal, throwing grenades and firing a machine-gun. The terrorists took cover beneath the overhang of a building, but the Reaper’s crew were able to guide a Hellfire missile very accurately to strike them.
On Friday 14 September, a building east of Abu Kamal was confirmed to be a base for Daesh suicide bombers. A Tornado flight conducted an attack using two Paveway IVs, which demolished the building.
Support has also continued to be given to the Iraqi security forces as they continue their work to prevent Daesh resuming operations inside the country. On Saturday 15 September, a coalition surveillance aircraft identified two entrances to a tunnel network used by the terrorists, concealed in the hills above the Tigris some fifteen miles north-west of Mosul, and guided a pair of Typhoon FGR4s to the target. Each of the tunnel entrances was successfully struck in turn, using Paveway IVs, and collapsed.
Close support continued to be provided to the Syrian Democratic Forces advancing against Daesh around Abu Kamal. On Tuesday 18 September, a Reaper observed a large group of terrorists moving into a building very close to the SDF. A Hellfire missile was used to strike one part of the building, which successfully dealt with most of the terrorists, while a second missile eliminated a smaller group positioned outside.
The following day, a Reaper was again on station over the Abu Kamal area, and its crew conducted two successful attacks with Hellfires on terrorists several miles to the north of the town, concealed in a treeline. Meanwhile, a pair of Paveway IV-armed Typhoons bombed a Daesh command post identified just to the east of Abu Kamal.
Friday 21 September saw a Reaper, Typhoons and Tornados all in action near Abu Kamal. The Reaper used a Hellfire missile to kill a terrorist on a motorcycle in the area. Typhoons used one Paveway IV against a group of extremists whom a coalition surveillance aircraft had spotted moving in the open, then employed a further three such weapons against a long, low building occupied by other Daesh fighters. Meanwhile, two Tornados provided close support to the SDF who had encountered two buildings held by terrorists; a highly accurate attack destroyed both positions and removed the threat.
In northern Iraq, the security forces tracked several terrorists to a set of tunnels in the bank of the Tigris, a few miles north of Bayji, on Saturday 22 September. A pair of Tornados on a reconnaissance mission were diverted to the area, and they were able to achieve a direct hit on the tunnel entrance. A second pair of Tornados patrolled east of Abu Kamal, and employed a Paveway IV to destroy a building used by Daesh as a weapons store on the banks of the Euphrates. Typhoons bombed a terrorist-held building in the same area.
A Reaper carried out three attacks on Daesh positions near Abu Kamal on Sunday 23 September. Firstly, a heavy weapon was observed being fired from the upper floor of a three-storey building, but this was silenced by a Hellfire missile. A further Hellfire was used against a terrorist-held building close to an SDF position, and a GBU-12 guided bomb destroyed another such building. The latter attack resulted in a series of secondary explosions, indicating that ammunition or explosives had probably been stockpiled inside. Typhoons similarly provided close support to the SDF, eliminating another terrorist strong-point, then flew upstream to the Hajin area where they bombed a terrorist storage point.
On Monday 24 September, a Reaper tracked two terrorist groups as they gathered at a building north-east of Abu Kamal; another coalition surveillance aircraft confirmed that they were respectively Daesh drone and mortar teams. A Hellfire missile eliminated most of the group, and a second missile took out the remainder who had attempted to hide in a nearby orchard. Later, the Reaper’s crew came to the assistance of the SDF who had come under fire from a Daesh-held building. Despite the proximity of the SDF, a GBU-12 guided bomb was successfully employed to eliminate the threat. Again, in the Abu Kamal area, a flight of Typhoons destroyed two more Daesh-held buildings with Paveway IVs, whilst Tornados attacked a group of terrorists concealed in a treeline.
Further close support was provided to the SDF on Tuesday 25 September, when a Reaper caught a Daesh mortar in the act of firing, north of Abu Kamal. The mortar team was hit with a GBU-12. The next day, Typhoons used a single Paveway IV to demolish a terrorist strong-point north-east of the town. On Thursday 27 September, a Reaper used a single Hellfire missile to attack a building north-east of Abu Kamal, which had been identified as containing a Daesh stockpile of explosives. Large secondary blasts followed the missile’s impact, confirming the destruction of the explosives inside.
Tornados and Typhoons gave further assistance to the SDF on Saturday 29 September after a sniper opened fire on them from the upper storey of an abandoned school, but the Typhoons used a Paveway IV with great precision, destroying the floor from which the fire had been coming, but causing as little damage as possible to the remainder of the former school. The Typhoons then conducted a second attack to destroy a cache of weapons hidden in woodland. Meanwhile, the Tornados bombed a building occupied by a number of terrorists.
A Reaper’s crew tracked an armoured truck as it drove at speed north-east of Abu Kamal on Sunday 30 September; a Hellfire missile scored a direct hit on the vehicle, destroying it. Typhoons struck a Daesh-occupied building on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, just across the river from Abu Kamal.
Details of previous airstrikes can be found here.
For more information see Daesh: UK government response page on GOV.UK
