On Aug. 13, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted eight 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, fighter-attack and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

“Coalition airstrikes in Ramadi have destroyed many Daesh forces, equipment and fighting positions,” said Col. Mike Indovina, spokesman, CJTF-OIR. “The continued pounding of Daesh defensive positions sets the conditions for ISF as they advance closer to the city in order to completely encircle Ramadi, “tightening the noose” around the city, before commencing clearing operations.”

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

Syria

• Near Al Hasakah, three airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed five ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL bunker.

• Near Aleppo, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed three ISIL recoilless rifles, two ISIL vehicles and an ISIL fighting position.

• Near Ar Raqqah, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units.

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

Iraq

• Near Al Huwayjah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL vehicle.

• Near Bayji, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL resupply caches.

• Near Fallujah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL anti-aircraft artillery piece and an ISIL weapons cache.

• Near Habbaniyah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and terrain features denying ISIL a tactical advantage and destroyed three ISIL buildings.

• Near Kirkuk, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL bunker.

• Near Makhmur, one airstrike struck an ISIL mortar firing position.

• Near Mosul, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL fighting positions.

• Near Ramadi, six airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units and an ISIL fighting position and destroyed three ISIL buildings, two ISIL IEDs, two ISIL vehicles and an ISIL recoilless rifle.

• Near Sinjar, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed four ISIL fighting positions and four ISIL light machine guns.

• Near Tal Afar, six airstrikes struck four ISIL staging areas and destroyed an ISIL anti-aircraft artillery piece and an ISIL VBIED.

• Near Tuz, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

Coalition aircraft, including two RAF GR4s, staged a large coordinated air strike on Thursday 13 August against a terrorist strongpoint in northern Iraq, to the east of Tal Afar. This was at a village, the population of which had forced out by ISIL, with the buildings turned into fortified positions in the front line against the advancing Kurdish peshmerga. Very careful surveillance by both the Kurdish troops and aerial reconnaissance allowed a number of key elements of the strong point to be identified, including headquarters, terrorist accommodation, equipment stores and heavy weapon positions. This patient and thorough intelligence analysis allowed a coordinated attack to be mounted by coalition jets against multiple targets, with the GR4s dropping Paveway IV guided bombs.

A second flight of GR4s then provided close air support through the evening to the peshmerga, in the course of which a successful strike was conducted on a terrorist mortar position.

On Aug. 12, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 12 airstrikes using attack, bomber, fighter and fighter-attack 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 Abu Kamal, two airstrikes destroyed an ISIL front end loader and an ISIL bridge.
• Near Al Hasakah, five airstrikes struck one large and two small ISIL tactical units and destroyed eight ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Aleppo, three airstrikes struck an ISIL staging facility and destroyed four ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL trench lines and an ISIL bunker.
• Near Kobani, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed seven ISIL fighting positions [see video] and an ISIL motorcycle.

Iraq

• Near Al Baghdadi, one airstrike destroyed five ISIL rocket rails.
• Near Bayji, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL weapons cache.
• Near Haditha, two airstrikes destroyed two ISIL mortar systems, an ISIL building and an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Kirkuk, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Makhmur, one airstrike struck an ISIL mortar firing position.
• Near Mosul, two airstrikes struck an ISIL mortar firing position and destroyed 19 ISIL bunkers.
• Near Ramadi, two airstrikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL buildings, two ISIL vehicles and an ISIL recoilless rifle.
• Near Sinjar, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL light machine gun and an ISIL vehicle.
• Near Tal Afar, one airstrike struck an ISIL heavy machine gun firing position.

On Wednesday 12 August, an RAF Reaper delivered successful Hellfire attacks on a Da’ish position and a truck.

On Aug. 11, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted nine airstrikes using attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 10 airstrikes coordinated with the Government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter and fighter-attack aircraft against ISIL targets.

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

Syria

• Near Al Hasakah, five airstrikes struck one large and four small ISIL tactical units and destroyed 10 ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL bunkers and an ISIL structure.

• Near Aleppo, three airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, an ISIL excavator and an ISIL staging area and destroyed an ISIL excavator.

• Near Dayr Az Zawr, one airstrike struck an ISIL bridge.

Iraq

• Near Al Huwayjah, two airstrikes struck two ISIL heavy machine gun firing positions.

• Near Bayji, one airstrike struck an ISIL large tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL homemade explosives cache.

• Near Makhmur, two airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL mortar firing position.

• Near Ramadi, three airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL IED.

• Near Sinjar, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL light machine gun.

• Near Tal Afar, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions.

The following day [August 11 2015], GR4s used a Paveway guided bomb to hit yet another large stockpile of explosives, which it appeared were being prepared for use as improvised explosive devices.

De danske F-16-fly, der er udsendt som bidrag til Operation Inherent Resolve, har siden seneste opdatering 4. august fløjet 12 missioner og anvendt 14 bomber.

Missionerne, som de danske fly har deltaget i, har været offensive, og de danske fly har i den forløbne periode primært deltaget i missioner i Ninawa og Al Anbar provinserne. Målene for bomberne har været fjendtlige våbenstillinger, bygninger og materiel 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.

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 464 missioner og anvendt 411 bomber. Alle de danske bomber er præcisionsstyrede, hvilket vil sige, at de styres mod deres mål ved hjælp af enten laser eller GPS.