On 25 August 2015, while taking part in coalition operations in support of Iraqi security forces, two CF-18 Hornets successfully struck an ISIS fighting position south of Kirkuk [not listed by Coalition] using precision guided munitions.

On Monday 24 August, a Reaper helped a coalition fast jet to successfully target a well-concealed terrorist sniper who was firing on Iraqi security forces, and the next day [August 25th 2015] saw another Reaper conduct three Hellfire attacks on terrorist positions.

De Nederlandse F-16’s, actief in het Midden-Oosten in de strijd tegen ISIS, vlogen meer dan 10 missies. Daarbij werden wapens ingezet tegen gebouwen, voertuigen en vuurposities van ISIS. In Irak rondden 400 cursisten van de Infantry Battle Course de lessenreeks af. Ze horen bij verschillende Peshmerga-eenheden. Verder begon een train-the-trainercursus waarbij 20 Peshmerga-instructeurs les krijgen in het geven van basisinstructie. In Bagdad zijn commando-, sniper– en medische opleidingen in volle gang.

De danske F-16-fly, der er udsendt som bidrag til Operation Inherent Resolve, har siden seneste opdatering 18. august fløjet 14 missioner og anvendt 23 bomber.

Missionerne, som de danske fly har deltaget i, har været offensive, og de danske fly har i den forløbne periode deltaget i missioner i Ninawa, Salah Al Din, Kirkuk og Al Anbar provinserne. Målene for bomberne har været fjendtlige våbenstillinger, fjendtligt personel, køretøjer og bygninger anvendt af ISIL.

De danske fly har fløjet Close Air Support-missioner (CAS), hvor flyene er indsat som luftstøtte til styrker på landjorden. Her vil flyene patruljere over et bestemt område, hvorefter de vil kunne blive indsat af koalitionen, når der er behov for støtte. Luftstøtten vil variere afhængig af, hvad der er behov for. Det kan både dreje sig om overvågningsopgaver og bombninger af mål.

De danske fly har også gennemført Air Interdiction-missioner. Her gennemføres et specifikt angreb mod et på forhånd defineret mål, hvor flyene flyver direkte til målet, anvender bomber og flyver retur. Ved disse missioner har målene for bomberne været bygninger.

På de missioner, hvor de danske F-16 ikke har anvendt våben, har de bidraget med overvågning og indhentning af efterretninger. På sådanne overvågningsmissioner er flyene dog altid klar til at anvende våben, hvis der er behov for det.

Siden første mission den 16. oktober 2014, har det danske bidrag i alt fløjet 490 missioner og anvendt 448 bomber. Alle de danske bomber er præcisionsstyrede, hvilket vil sige, at de styres mod deres mål ved hjælp af enten laser eller GPS.

Forsvarschef: F-16-bidraget skal have en pause
Forsvarschef, general Peter Bartram, mener, at det danske F-16-bidrag, som er indsat i kampen mod ISIL i Irak, skal have en pause og bør trækkes hjem.
Forsvarschefen er lige nu sammen med forsvarsminister Carl Holst på besøg hos det danske kampflysbidrag på Al-Jaber-base i Kuwait. Og under besøget løftede forsvarschefen sløret for sin militære anbefaling til regeringen angående F-16-bidraget.
– Jeg har i min militære anbefaling til regeringen sagt, at F-16-bidraget bør trækkes hjem, når mandatet udløber 1. oktober, siger forsvarschef, general Peter Bartram, og fortsætter:
– Vi har løst en stor og vigtig opgave, men jeg må også erkende, at støttestrukturen derhjemme er presset. Vi trænger til at få en pause, så vi kan blive klar igen. Der er også et behov for at tage højde for flyenes restlevetid, så de kan anvendes indtil de nye kampfly kan overtage.
Forsvarets støttestruktur er baseret på, at F-16-flyene er udsendt i en periode for derefter at komme hjemme igen og genopbygge.
– Det er klart, der er en masse faktorer, der spiller ind for, hvornår vi kan blive klar igen. Når Forsvarsministeren på et tidspunkt igen beder mig om en militær anbefaling, så vil vi i den konkrete situation analysere de mange variabler og fremlægge en anbefaling med beskrivelse af eventuelle konsekvenser. Og beder regeringen os om at genindsætte flyene, gør vi naturligvis det, siger forsvarschefen.

On Aug. 24, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted five airstrikes using fighter and remotely piloted aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 31 airstrikes coordinated with the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter, fighter-attack and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release:

Syria

• Near Al Hasakah, two airstrikes destroyed an ISIL bunker, an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL structure.
• Near Al Hawl, one airstrike destroyed nine ISIL fighting positions.
• Near Ar Raqqah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
• Near Washiyah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

Iraq

• Near Al Baghdadi, three airstrikes struck an ISIL large tactical unit and destroyed six ISIL rocket rails, an ISIL artillery piece, an ISIL building, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL mortar system, an ISIL rocket system, an ISIL weapons cache and an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Bayji, two airstrikes struck one large and one small ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL excavator, an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Fallujah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL rocket systems.
• Near Kisik, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL sniper firing position and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL heavy machine gun.
• Near Mosul, five airstrikes struck five ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Sinjar, four airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL armored vehicle.
• Near Sultan Abdallah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.
• Near Tal Afar, one airstrike struck and suppressed an ISIL heavy machine gun firing position.
• Near Tuz, 12 airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and six ISIL staging areas and destroyed 57 ISIL fighting positions and three ISIL vehicles.

On Monday 24 August, a Reaper helped a coalition fast jet to successfully target a well-concealed terrorist sniper who was firing on Iraqi security forces, and the next day saw another Reaper conduct three Hellfire attacks on terrorist positions.

On Aug. 23, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight airstrikes using bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 12 airstrikes coordinated with the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter, fighter-attack and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release:

Syria

• Near Al Hasakah, three strikes destroyed three ISIL excavators and an ISIL bunker.

• Near Al Hawl, two airstrikes struck an ISIL crude oil collection point and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL trench.

• Near Ayn Isa, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL motorcycles and an ISIL fighting position.

• Near Kobani, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

• Near Washiyah, one airstrike destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL bunkers, two ISIL tunnels and an ISIL front end loader.

Iraq

• Near Bayji, one airstrike struck an ISIL large tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL building and an ISIL vehicle.

• Near Fallujah, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL mortar system.

• Near Kisik, one airstrike struck and suppressed an ISIL heavy machine gun.

• Near Mosul, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL vehicle.

• Near Qayyarah, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

• Near Ramadi, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL buildings and an ISIL vehicle.

• Near Sultan Abdallah, one airstrike struck an ISIL large tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions and two ISIL heavy machine guns.

• Near Tuz, three airstrikes destroyed nine ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles and an ISIL weapons cache.