Tornado GR4s from RAF Akrotiri, supported by a Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker, provided close air support to Iraqi troops operating near Bayji on Thursday 29 October. A number of ISIL terrorists were observed manoeuvring towards an Iraqi position, and our aircraft successfully attacked three groups with Paveway IV guided bombs.

Later that day, another GR4 flight conducted a strike on a fortified terrorist position near Tal Afar in the north-west of the country, hitting three targets with Paveways.

Au Levant, la situation est surtout marquée par une évolution des lignes de fronts en Irak, principalement dans la zone nord du pays (région Sinjar – Mossoul – Kirkouk) ou Daech semble adoptée une posture défensive. A Baïdji, les Forces de sécurité irakiennes (FSI) reprennent peu à peu le contrôle de la ville. Dans la vallée de l’Euphrate, à l’ouest de Bagdad, la tension entre FSI et Daech reste toujours aussi forte autour de la ville de Ramadi. Dans ce contexte, la coalition poursuit son appui aérien au profit des FSI partout où leurs éléments sont au contact de Daech.

Depuis le 15 octobre 2015, la composante aérienne de la force Chammal a ainsi conduit 42 nouvelles missions, dont 14 missions de renseignement parmi lesquelles 9 au-dessus des zones contrôlées par Daech en Syrie. À Bagdad et Erbil, les militaires français restent par ailleurs engagés dans la formation des FSI, en particulier celle de l’état-major de la 6edivision d’infanterie (DAA6 de Bagdad), ainsi que celle des soldats irakiens de l’Iraki Counter Terrorism Service (ICTS). Cette semaine, les conseillers français ont davantage axé leur formation dans les domaines liés à la conduite des opérations, l’emploi des appuis interarmes et la logistique opérationnelle.

On Oct. 28, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 13 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using bomber, fighter, and attack aircraft against ISIL targets. The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release:

Iraq

* Near Al Huwayjah, two strikes struck two separate ISIL weapons and staging areas.

* Near Mosul, one strike destroyed an ISIL artillery piece.

* Near Ramadi, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL recoilless rifle, two ISIL rocket rails, eight ISIL boats, two ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL heavy machine gun, suppressed an ISIL heavy machine gun, and denied ISIL access to terrain.

* Near Sinjar, three strikes destroyed 33 ISIL fighting positions.

* Near Sultan Abdallah, two strikes destroyed an ISIL fighting position and suppressed an ISIL mortar position.

* Near Tal Afar, three strikes suppressed two ISIL mortar positions and an ISIL heavy machine gun position.

On Oct. 27, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 14 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using bomber, fighter, and attack aircraft against ISIL targets. The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release:

Iraq

• Near Mosul, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL heavy machine gun.

• Near Ramadi, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL fighting positions and two ISIL light machine guns.

• Near Samarra, one strike destroyed four ISIL fighting positions.

• Near Sinjar, four strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed 11 ISIL fighting positions and suppressed an ISIL mortar position.

• Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

• Near Tal Afar, four strikes destroyed eight ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL weapons storage area, an ISIL logistical facility, and an ISIL staging area.

On Oct. 26, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted one strike using fighter aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using bomber, fighter, and attack aircraft against ISIL targets. The following is a summary of the strikes conducted against ISIL since the last press release:

Syria

• Near Mar’a, one strike destroyed an ISIL mortar system.

Iraq

• Near Kisik, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three ISIL fighting positions and suppressed two ISIL machine gun positions.

• Near Ramadi, three strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed eight ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), four ISIL heavy machine guns, an ISIL artillery piece, suppressed an ISIL cannon, and denied ISIL access to terrain.

• Near Sinjar, six strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, and destroyed nine ISIL fighting positions, three ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL checkpoint, and suppressed an ISIL machine gun position.

De Nederlandse F-16’s in het Midden-Oosten voerden ongeveer 10 vluchten uit en zetten daarbij wapens in tegen vuurposities en gebouwen van terreurorganisatie ISIS.

Na een commando-overdracht begon het vijfde detachement van de Air Task Force Middle-East afgelopen week aan zijn taak. Het vierde detachement zette zich sinds juli in tegen ISIS.

De begin oktober in Bagdad gestarte Medic-opleiding voor Iraakse commando’s is afgerond.

On Oct. 25, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 15 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using fighter, attack, bomber, ground attack, and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

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

Iraq

• Near Bayji, one strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL fighting positions, three ISIL mortar positions, an ISIL heavy machine gun, and an ISIL cave entrance.

• Near Habbaniyah, two strikes suppressed two ISIL mortar positions.

• Near Kisik, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

• Near Mosul, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

• Near Ramadi, five strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL weapon caches, an ISIL command and control node, an ISIL building, and denied ISIL access to terrain.

• Near Sinjar, three strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 18 ISIL fighting positions and two ISIL vehicles.

• Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike suppressed an ISIL sniper position.

• Near Tal Afar, one strike destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

Additionally, on 22 Oct., in conjunction with an operation to free 70 hostages, the following targets were struck in Iraq:

• Near Al Huwayjah, two strikes destroyed an ISIL prison camp and denied ISIL forces an avenue of approach.

The following day, Sunday 25 October, an RAF Reaper again joined forces with coalition fast jets to help them target two terrorist-held buildings which were successfully attacked, then mounted two strikes with Hellfire missiles on ISIL terrorists as they attempted to reposition themselves.

On Oct. 24, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 22 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using fighter, attack, bomber, and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

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

Iraq

• Near Bayji, one strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit.

• Near Fallujah, one strike destroyed five ISIL rocket rails.

• Near Kisik, eight strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, four separate ISIL staging areas, and suppressed an ISIL mortar position and an ISIL heavy machine gun position.

• Near Mosul, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL heavy machine gun, and an ISIL vehicle.

• Near Ramadi, five strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed ten ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL sniper positions, an ISIL vehicle, and an ISIL weapons cache, and denied ISIL access to tactical terrain.

• Near Sinjar, five strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed 16 ISIL fighting positions, seven ISIL assembly areas, and an ISIL cache.

On Saturday 24 October, another Reaper worked closely with coalition jets to carry out a series of precision attacks on terrorist positions. The Reaper identified two terrorist sniper positions, which were struck by guided bombs from a coalition aircraft. Advancing Iraqi troops then came into close combat with a group of terrorists; the Reaper maintained close observation on the firefight, and was able to eliminate one terrorist team, without endangering the Iraqi soldiers, using a Hellfire missile.

When the terrorists retreated to positions in a trench and a culvert, the Reaper provided surveillance support to a coalition air strike which destroyed the trench, and conducted a second Hellfire strike itself on the extremists.

On 23 October 2015, while taking part in coalition operations in support of Iraqi security forces, two CF18 Hornets successfully struck an ISIS fighting position and an ISIS ammunitions cache northwest of Ramadi using precision guided munitions.

On Friday 23 October, the crew of a Reaper remotely piloted aircraft identified an ISIL armoured personnel carrier, concealed under a large building. Despite the difficulty this target posed, the crew were able to position to destroy the vehicle with a Hellfire missile.

The Reaper then supported another coalition aircraft in a successful strike on a second terrorist vehicle which had been identified nearby.

On Oct. 23, coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 21 strikes coordinated with and in support of the Government of Iraq using fighter, attack, ground-attack, bomber, and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets.

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

Iraq

• Near Al Baghdadi, one strike denied ISIL access to tactical terrain.

• Near Al Qaim, one strike struck an ISIL logistical facility.

• Near Albu Hayat, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

• Near Ar Rutbah, one strike struck an ISIL staging area.

• Near Fallujah, one strike destroyed an ISIL rocket rail.

• Near Kisik, one strike suppressed ISIL mortar fire.

• Near Mosul, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL mortar position.

• Near Ramadi, seven strikes [2 Canadian] struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL improvised explosive device (IED) cluster, two ISIL vehicle borne IEDs (VBIED), an ISIL vehicle, two ISIL weapon caches, an ISIL building, two ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL structure and denied ISIL access to terrain.

• Near Sinjar, three strikes struck an ISIL staging area and destroyed an ISIL headquarters building and seven ISIL fighting positions.

• Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

• Near Tal Afar, two strikes struck an ISIL VBIED facility and destroyed 19 ISIL fighting positions.