On Thursday 20 August, a Tornado patrol located two mechanical excavator vehicles near Mosul, which the ISIL terrorists were using to construct fortified positions to defend against the Kurdish peshmerga’s recent successful offensives in the area. Both of the vehicles were destroyed by our aircraft using Brimstone missiles.

Further south, an RAF Reaper was providing support that day to Iraqi army units; a large truck-bomb was spotted, positioned on the central reservation of a major road to threaten any advance by the Iraqi security forces along that route. A Hellfire missile destroyed the vehicle.

The Reaper’s crew then conducted surveillance against a building suspected of being a bomb-making location, where armed terrorists were seen moving a large number of sacks of home-made explosives, and preparing improvised explosive devices. Successful Hellfire attacks were conducted against the facility and the bomb-makers.

On Aug. 20, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 10 airstrikes using attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 23 airstrikes coordinated with the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter and fighter-attack and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

“This week the coalition conducted 15 airstrikes against Daesh terrorists in the vicinity of Mosul,” said Col. Wayne Marotto, CJTF-OIR, public affairs officer. “We eliminated a number of terrorists from the battle field, destroyed equipment and restricted their freedom of movement.”

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

Syria

• Near Al Hasakah, three airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL structures and an ISIL sniper firing position.
• Near Al Hawl, three airstrikes destroyed five ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL cache.
• Near Aleppo, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL hell cannon.
• Near Kobani, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL artillery piece and an ISIL heavy machine gun.

Iraq

• Near Ar Rutbah, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL excavator.
• Near Bayji, four airstrikes struck one large and three small ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL buildings and two ISIL VBIEDs.
• Near Habbaniyah, one airstrike destroyed two ISIL mortar systems.
• Near Haditha, one airstrike struck an ISIL weapons cache.
• Near Kirkuk, one airstrike [Canadian] struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and two ISIL heavy machine guns.
• Near Kisik, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL rocket firing position.
• Near Mosul, six airstrikes [1 Canadian, 1 British] struck three ISIL tactical units and an ISIL mortar firing position and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL excavators, two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL mortar firing position.
• Near Ramadi, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL recoilless rifle.
• Near Sinjar, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.
• Near Tuz, three airstrikes destroyed 17 ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL fuel storage facility, an ISIL vehicle storage facility and two ISIL vehicles.

On 20 August 2015, while taking part in coalition operations in support of Iraqi security forces, two CF-18 Hornets successfully struck two separate ISIS fighting positions, one west of Kirkuk and another west of Mosul, using precision guided munitions.

On Aug. 19, 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 21 airstrikes coordinated with the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter and fighter-attack and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

“Coalition airstrikes decimated Daesh fighters last night in the vicinity of the Bayji oil refinery,” said Brig. Gen. Kevin Killea, chief of staff, CJTF-OIR. “A combination of ISF ground maneuver and coalition air support continues to cut down Daesh’s attempts at reinforcing this heated fight.”

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

Syria

• Near Al Hasakah, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL communications repeater and an ISIL staging area.

• Near Aleppo, four airstrikes struck four ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions.

• Near Kobani, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL heavy machine guns and an ISIL fighting position.

Iraq

• Near Ar Rutbah, three airstrikes struck two ISIL staging areas and an ISIL VBIED facility.

• Near Bayji, two airstrikes struck two ISIL large tactical units and two ISIL buildings and destroyed 22 ISIL buildings and nine ISIL vehicles.

• Near Makhmur, one airstrike struck one ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL checkpoints.

• Near Mosul, five airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL bunker, an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL tunnel entrance.

• Near Ramadi, two airstrikes struck an ISIL large tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL buildings and an ISIL armored personnel carrier.

• Near Sinjar, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun.

• Near Tuz, seven airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL vehicles, two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL rocket rails, an ISIL staging area, an ISIL vehicle storage area an ISIL VBIED [see below].

Coalition airstrike, conducted in coordination with the Government of Iraq, destroyed a Daesh vehicle-borne IED facility near Ar Rutbah, Iraq August 19, 2015.

This site was used to produce VBIEDs for ISIL’s terrorist activities in the region and posed a direct threat to both civilians and Iraqi Security Forces.

“Every VBIED taken off the battlefield is one less insidious weapon that can be used by Daesh against the ISF and innocent Iraqis,” said Brig. Gen. Kevin Killea, CJTF-OIR Chief of Staff. “The location of this facility was strategic for Daesh in funneling VBIEDs into Anbar Province.”

Coalition forces will continue to target and destroy ISIL infrastructure in support of the ISF as they clear ISIL fighters from Iraqi cities and countryside.

On Tuesday 18 August, a Reaper, again operating over western Iraq, used a Hellfire to strike an armed pick-up truck, with a second such vehicle destroyed the following day [August 19th] by another Reaper.

Wednesday 19 August also saw a Tornado GR4 patrol providing support to the Kurdish peshmerga in northern Iraq, where our aircraft used Paveways to destroy first a pair of rocket launchers, then an ISIL supply truck.

Alors que dans quelques semaines, l’opération Chammal entrera dans sa deuxième année, les forces aériennes françaises engagées dans l’opération ont franchi une nouvelle étape. Un avion de patrouille maritime Atlantique 2 a procédé à un tir de bombe guidée laser le 19 août 2015.