Reaper strikes group of Islamic State fighters in Syria

A Reaper unmanned aircraft has killed a small group of terrorists around Baghuz Fawqani in eastern Syria.

According to the Ministry of Defence in a strike update, a Reaper provided close air support to the Syrian Democratic Forces as they fought Islamic State around Baghuz Fawqani on Saturday the 2nd of March.

The Reaper’s crew observed a rocket-propelled grenade being fired from a building, and shortly afterwards a small group of armed terrorists emerged.

They were tracked by the Reaper, whilst careful checks were made that no SDF or otherwise unidentified individuals were too close to them, then successfully engaged with a single Hellfire missile.

British aircraft have delivered air attacks to assist the SDF with operations on the ground, while conducting daily reconnaissance missions around Baghuz, eastern Syria.

Coalition aircraft also remain available to assist the Iraqi security forces as necessary, to prevent Islamic State from re-establishing a presence in the country.

Background on Operation Shader

By September last year, the Ministry of Defence had announced that over 1,000 personnel were engaged in theatre and that the Royal Air Force had conducted around 1,000 airstrikes, flying over 2,800 sorties, killing over 3,000 Islamic State fighters.

Last year, it was reported that the Royal Air Force was operating at its most intense for 25 years in a single theatre of operation which far outstripped the UK involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan – RAF jets have dropped 11 times more bombs (1,276 strikes) on Syria and Iraq in the preceding 12 months than they had in the busiest year of action in Afghanistan a decade previously.