Typhoon jets have destroyed a Daesh weapons stockpile in the deserts of western Iraq.

According to the Ministry of Defence:

“A group of terrorists had been identified at a building in the Al Jazirah desert in north-western Iraq, and a Typhoon flight was tasked to this location.

As ever, our aircraft conducted a careful check of the surrounding area for any civilians who might have been placed at risk, then struck the Daesh-held building with Paveway IVs, destroying the building.”

The Royal Air Force said in a statement:

“Royal Air Force aircraft, alongside those from other coalition partners, have continued to fly daily patrols over Iraq and Syria following the liberation of the last Daesh-held territory by the Syrian Democratic Forces at Baghuz Fawqani in March.

These missions provide reconnaissance information about any attempts by the terrorists to re-establish an operational presence in the region, and are able to strike any such activity that is detected.”


Background on Operation Shader

This section is intended to provide a bit of background on British efforts in the region and if you’ve read it before, please remember others may not have.

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.

George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison

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