Monday 1 August – Tornados participated in a major coalition air strike on Saddam’s former palace in Mosul, used by Daesh as a headquarters and training establishment for foreign terrorists, while Typhoons destroyed a network of fortified positions on the outskirts of Manbij…In Mosul, extensive surveillance had established that Daesh were using a palace, built by the former dictator Saddam Hussein, as a major headquarters and training centre for foreign terrorist recruits. The complex, sat in a large secure compound next to the Tigris, included not just the main palace building, used as an accommodation and meeting venue by the terrorists, but also a number of more discreet outbuildings used for command and control, training, internal security and repression. A large coalition air package drawn from several nations conducted a carefully coordinated attack on the complex on the afternoon of Monday 1 August. The British contribution was a pair of Tornados, armed with the largest guided bombs in the RAF’s inventory, the 2000lb Enhanced Paveway III, which were used to target first the headquarters buildings, then a security centre. Initial analysis indicates that the coalition mission was successful.

Over Syria, Typhoons again flew close air support missions for the Syrian democratic forces on 1 August as they advanced into Manbij. A network of fortified positions on the south-western edge of the town, held by a large number of Daesh extremists, was destroyed by a salvo of eight Paveway IVs.