Summary

• Monday 615 SeptemberMarch -– RAFTyphoons struck three Daesh-held caves in northern Iraq.
• Tuesday 16 March – Typhoons supportedhit groundtwo forcesDaesh-held undercaves firein fromnorthern DaeshIraq.
• Wednesday 17 March – Typhoons destroyed two more Daesh-held caves in northern Iraq.

Detail

RoyalIraqi Airsecurity Forceforces, aircraftspearheaded by their very capable Counter Terrorism Service, continue to flymount armedoperations reconnaissancein missionsnorthern asIraq partto ofeliminate theany Globalgroups Coalitionof AgainstDaesh Daesh’sterrorists workattempting to supportregain a foothold in the Iraqiregion. SecurityCoalition Forcesairpower keepingis theirsupporting countrythese safeoperations, fromand DaeshRoyal terrorism.

OnAir MondayForce 6aircraft September,have Iraqiplayed grounda forcessignificant role, conducting securityan operationsintensive approximatelyseries thirtyof milesair southstrikes on Daesh targets south-west of Erbil camesince under10 fireMarch, fromwhere athe Daeshterrorists positionhave sought to establish bases in anthe areanumerous caves of heavythe vegetation.

TwoMakhmur RAFmountains. TyphoonOn FGR4sMonday responded15 toMarch, two Typhoons successfully attacked a callcave forused assistanceby and,Daesh workingwith closelyPaveway IV guided bombs, and later that day a second Typhoon flight struck two more Daesh-held caves with thePaveways. groundTwo forcesmore tocaves, ensurein nowhich risksDaesh had established a presence, were posedhit towith eitherPaveway themIVs oron anyTuesday civilians,16 usedMarch, and a singlefurther Pavewaytwo IVsuch guidedcaves bombwere todestroyed successfullyin eliminatelike manner on Wednesday 17 March.

All of the threat.caves were located in a remote, mountainous area, but nevertheless, very careful checks were made before each strike to ensure that there were no signs of civilians who might be placed at risk.

Previous update

OnThe TuesdayRoyal 11Air May,Force Iraqihas securitycontinued forcesto encounteredconduct astrikes, groupas part of the global coalition’s support for the Iraqi Security Forces, as they conduct operations to prevent the Daesh terroriststerrorist group from re-establishing its presence in the country.

The Iraqi forces recently identified a strongsignificant defensivenumber positionof someDaesh twentyfighters fiveusing milescave southcomplexes westsouth-west of Mosul.Erbil. ComingThe undercaves heavyidentified smallwere armsassessed fireto frombe theparticularly terrorists,difficult thetargets Iraqiand troopstwo requestedRAF airTyphoon FGR4s were therefore tasked to conduct strikes in support of ground forces from the globalhighly-capable coalition,Iraqi andCounter-Terrorism aService.

On pairWednesday 10 March they conducted surveillance of Royalthe Airarea Forceto Typhoonconfirm FGR4sthat respondedthere promptly. Liaisingwere closelyno withsigns theof Iraqis,civilians ourwho aircraftmight attackedbe placed at risk, before conducting the Daeshfirst terroristsattack withusing twoStorm PavewayShadow IVmissiles, precisionwhich guidedhad bombs. Thebeen bombsselected hitas the targetmost andappropriate eliminatedweapon afor numberthe oftask. Following the Daeshmission, extremists. Thethe IraqiTyphoon’s forcesweapons were thenconfirmed able to assaulthave struck their targets precisely.

Further surveillance efforts confirmed two additional locations in the positionsame successfullyarea andwere overwhelmalso occupied by Daesh. Two Typhoons conducted precision attacks on the fewextremists remainingat terrorists.both locations on Thursday 11 March, using six Paveway IV guided bombs.

Useful information

AccessRAF furtheraircraft informationwere again in action on Friday 12 March, when they struck another group of caves used by Daesh, with eight Paveway IV bombs; and again on Sunday 14 March, when six Paveway IVs were employed against Daesh-held caves in the Britishsame forcesremote, airmountainous strikesarea.

On each occasion, our aircrew have exercised their utmost care in Iraqchecking there were no signs of civilians in the area before conducting the strikes and Syria:subsequent monthlysurveillance list.to ensure their successful completion.