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Three flights of Royal Air Force Tornados and
Typhoons provided close air support on
Wednesday 30 August to the Syrian Democratic Forces fighting to liberate Raqqa from Daesh control. Five attacks were successfully conducted, which eliminated
three sniper positions, a light machine-gun team, and a group of extremists armed with rocket-propelled grenades. Each of the attacks required careful planning and execution by our aircrew, given the proximity of the Syrian Democratic Forces to the desired targets.
Typhoons continued operations over Raqqa on
Friday 1 September, when they used a
Paveway IV to destroy a Daesh-held building from which fire was being directed at the Syrian Democratic Forces. A mixed Tornado and Typhoon pair conducted reconnaissance before joining a coalition strike on a large, dispersed terrorist site near Al Qaim in western Iraq. The RAF targets at the complex were
accommodation and storage blocks, and an anti-aircraft position. All three were struck by Paveway IVs.
On
Saturday 2 September,
Typhoons patrolled over eastern Syria, and used a
Paveway to attack a lorry and trailer being used by Daesh some twelve miles south-east of As Shadaddi, close to the border with Iraq.
Royal Air Force Typhoons, supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker, flew close air support for the Syrian Democratic Forces as they continued to battle Daesh inside Raqqa. Our aircraft delivered
six attacks with Paveway IV guided bombs against Daesh positions, often having to strike targets very close to the Syrian Democratic Forces,
including a heavy machine-gun and two sniper teams. Typhoons continued operations over Raqqa on
Wednesday 6 September, eliminating a further
machine-gun position and a sniper.On
Thursday 7 September, Tornados patrolled over northern Iraq. A couple of miles north-east of Hawijah, a truck carrying a group of extremists was successfully targeted using a Brimstone missile. Our aircraft were then tasked with the destruction of a fuel depot near Sharqat where Daesh had been spotted refuelling truck-bombs, as well as a nearby accommodation block used by the terrorists. Both were struck with Paveway IVs. Over Raqqa,
Typhoons flew further close support missions for the Syrian Democratic Forces,
bombing successfully a light machine-gun position.
A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft conducted armed reconnaissance over a largely desert area some twenty miles north-east of Dayr az Zawr on
Friday 8 September. Two terrorists were tracked on a motorcycle as they collected weapons and headed out to set up an apparent ambush position. They were both killed by a single Hellfire missile. Not far away, another small group of terrorists were seen entering a small building, and also eliminated with a Hellfire.
The following day, another Reaper flew a further patrol in the same area of Syria, and tracked a group of three terrorists on a motorcycle and trailer. The Reaper’s crew waited patiently until the targets were in open countryside before firing a Hellfire which scored a direct hit.
A flight of Royal Air Force Tornados supported the Syrian Democratic Forces fighting in Raqqa on
Monday 11 September, when Paveway IV guided bombs were used to destroy two sniper positions. A second Tornado flight patrolled north-east of Dayr az Zawr, where they attacked a group of terrorists in a compound with a Paveway IV. Survivors of the attack then attempted to move to another position on a motorcycle, but were successfully engaged with a Brimstone missile. The following day, a Reaper remotely piloted aircraft operated in the same area near Dayr az Zawr, and provided precision targeting that enabled a coalition air strike to destroy a truck-bomb workshop and a vehicle that was being prepared there.
On
Wednesday 13 September, another Reaper continued patrolling near Dayr az Zawr. It used two Hellfire missiles to attack terrorists spotted on foot, then employed a third missile to destroy an armoured truck-bomb positioned next to a main road. A mixed Tornado and Typhoon pair meanwhile targeted a group of Daesh in a building nearby, scoring a direct hit with a Brimstone.
Tornados operated over northern Iraq on
Thursday 14 September, where significant truck-bomb activity had been detected some miles south of Qayyarah. Four such truck-bombs were destroyed by our aircraft using two Brimstones and two Paveways, and a further two Paveways were used to destroy a workshop producing the booby-trapped vehicles. On
Friday 15 September, a Reaper was again very active north-east of Dayr az Zawr; it provided support to coalition airstrikes which destroyed three Daesh-held buildings, then conducted two attacks on its own account with Hellfire missiles against terrorists moving through the area. Nearby, a
Typhoon flight
bombed a further Daesh-held building.
Operations on
Saturday 16 September focused on both northern and western Iraq. In the north, a
Typhoon mission destroyed an
engineering vehicle being used by the terrorists to construct fieldworks near Az Zawiyyah, while a Brimstone attack by Tornados knocked out an armoured personnel carrier south of Qayyarah. In the west, a pair of Tornados used four Paveway IVs to destroy a Daesh headquarters and a truck-bomb facility in the desert near Rutbah. The next day, a Reaper conducted yet another successful attack north-east of Dayr az Zawr, eliminating a truck-bomb with a Hellfire, whilst to the south-east, close to the border with Iraq, two Tornados bombed a weapons store near Abu Kamal.
The primary focus for Royal Air Force activity over the past week has been supporting Iraqi operations against remaining Daesh positions in northern Iraq. A pair of Tornados conducted two attacks on
Monday 18 September, using Paveway IV guided bombs to eliminate a mortar team south-east of Sharqat, and a tunnel entrance and nearby heavy machine-gun position north-west of Tikrit. On
Wednesday 20 September,
Typhoons successfully
bombed a truck carrying mortars some 25 miles north-west of Bayji. The
following day, Typhoons employed
two Paveway IVs to destroy a terrorist command post and weapons stockpile in Hawijah, while a Tornado flight demolished a Daesh strongpoint north-east of Sharqat, then dealt with a second weapons stockpile south of Qayyarah.
The Syrian Democratic Forces fighting in Raqqa also received support, with
Paveway-armed Typhoons bombing a sniper team and another terrorist position there on
Friday 22 September. In northern Iraq, Tornados struck a Daesh command post 15 miles west of Hawijah with two Paveway IVs.
Our aircraft were particularly active on
Saturday 23 September over northern Iraq.
Typhoons destroyed a
truck-bomb west of Hawijah, a terrorist-held building 30 miles west-north-west of Kirkuk, and a mortar team, that was firing on Iraqi forces, in the hills south-west of Zawiyyah. A second Typhoon flight successfully bombed a
weapons stockpile south-east of Hawijah, then conducted a simultaneous attack on four truck-bombs blocking one of the routes of advance towards the town. Near Sudayrah, Tornados used one Paveway to destroy a pair of truck-bombs, a second Paveway to knock-out an armed truck, then a third such weapon south-east of Sharqat against a Daesh building. Another Tornado flight bombed a command post south-east of Hawijah, then used a combination of Brimstone missiles and Paveway IVs to destroy a shipping container and three truck-bombs blocking other roads into Hawijah.
On
Sunday 24 September, a Reaper kept watch over the area north-east of Dayr az Zawr in Syria, and used a Hellfire missile to destroy a truck-bomb. Over northern Iraq, Tornados demolished a Daesh-held building in Zawiyyah with a Paveway IV.
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