Britain continues operations against IS, no civilian casualties

Islamic State (IS) terrorists have suffered further losses as Royal Air Force aircraft have continued operations over Syria and Iraq.

RAF Tornado GR4s, Typhoon FGR4s and Reaper remotely piloted aircraft have flown daily armed reconnaissance missions over both Syria and Iraq, collecting valuable intelligence on terrorist activity. In the course of these patrols, a number of targets have been successfully attacked by our aircraft.

On Wednesday 9 December, a pair of Tornados provided close air support to Kurdish soldiers fighting IS in northern Iraq, and used a Paveway IV guided bomb to destroy a terrorist position, including a mortar team, centred on a building near Kisik. A Reaper maintained overwatch for the Kurds into the night, and having assisted other coalition aircraft in a successful strike on a heavy machine-gun position, its crew conducted successful Hellfire missile attacks of their own against three IS vehicles south of Sinjar, despite the trucks being parked under cover.

On Thursday 10 December, two Typhoons, working in close cooperation with another coalition aircraft, carried out Paveway IV bomb attacks on a terrorist-held building and a bunker in northern Iraq. A Tornado patrol was meanwhile operating in conjunction with a Reaper south-west of Sinjar; the Tornados destroyed another IS building and a mortar position with Paveways, whilst the Reaper followed up with a successful Hellfire attack on a terrorist location. The Reaper stayed on patrol to support the Kurdish forces, and when they came under fire from a sniper, eliminated the threat with a direct hit from a GBU-12 guided bomb. Before returning to base, the Reaper destroyed a IS vehicle with a Hellfire.

In more than a year of air operations against Islamic State targets, the Ministry of Defence have revealed there have been no reports of civilian casualties resulting from UK air operations.

This record is a reflection of the rigorous targeting protocols UK forces observe.

British drones have killed around 305 Islamic State fighters in Iraq over the past year without harming any civilians, the Ministry of Defence have revealed in a response to Freedom of Information requests.

The RAF also use Brimstone missiles which while not as unique as the news report claims. are incredibly effective on both static and moving targets and offer pin-point accuracy. Brimstone has a small warhead, which has a minimal effect outside of the target area to ensure low collateral damage and a small blast radius. Brimstone is often the weapon of choice as it has a well observed ability to perform surgical strikes, in time critical missions, both day and night.

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