December 12th 2014 – A RAF Reaper conducted armed reconnaissance in northern Iraq, where ISIL are facing increasing pressure from the Kurdish peshmerga.The Reaper’s mission focused on engineering equipment being used by the terrorists to construct defensive positions to hold up peshmerga advances.The remotely piloted aircraft was able to locate 2 of these engineer vehicles, and attacked them with Hellfire missiles.

Further south, another Reaper identified an ISIL armed pick-up truck and engaged it with a Hellfire missile.

RAF Tornado GR4s were also providing surveillance for the Iraqi army in Anbar province, and were able to assist Iraqi soldiers engaged in a firefight with terrorists near Ramadi. Paveway precision guided bombs and Brimstone missiles were used to deal with ISIL fighting positions and 3 vehicles, including 2 armoured personnel carriers.

Le 12 décembre, les aéronefs ont porté trois frappes au Nord de l’Irak, dans la région Ouest et Nord-Est de Mossoul, permettant la destruction de caches de munitions ainsi que de groupes de combattants de Daech.

Een overzicht van Defensie-operaties van 8 tot en met 14 december.

Irak

Nederlandse F-16’s van De Air Taks Force Middle East vlogen 12 missies boven Irak. Ze gooiden 7 bommen op gebouwen, voertuigen en gevechtsopstellingen van terreurorganisatie ISIS.

December 12th 2014 – U.S. and partner nation military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria Dec 10-12 using fighter and bomber aircraft to conduct seven airstrikes. Separately, U.S. and partner nation military forces conducted 20 airstrikes in Iraq Dec. 10-12 using fighter, bomber, attack, and remotely-piloted aircraft against the ISIL terrorists.

In Syria, five airstrikes near Kobani destroyed five ISIL fighting positions and also struck another ISIL fighting position.

Near Aleppo, an airstrike struck five ISIL-occupied buildings.

Near al-Qaim, on the Syrian border, an airstrike destroyed two ISIL fortifications.

In Iraq, four airstrikes near Sinjar destroyed an ISIL armored vehicle and two ISIL storage containers and also struck another ISIL armored vehicle and an ISIL checkpoint.

Near Ramadi, four airstrikes destroyed an excavator and five ISIL vehicles and also struck an ISIL-occupied building and three ISIL units.

Near Ar Rutbah, three airstrikes destroyed two bulldozers and an ISIL storage container.

Near Mosul, three airstrikes destroyed a bunker and a bulldozer and also struck an excavator.

Near al-Qaim, three airstrikes destroyed four ISIL vehicles, two ISIL-occupied buildings, an ISIL storage container, and an ISIL guard tower and also struck an ISIL bunker.

Near Samarra, an airstrike struck a large ISIL unit. Near Rawah, an airstrike destroyed an ISIL guard shack [British].

Near Al Asad an airstrike struck an ISIL staging area.

11-12-2014 – kl. 12:23: De danske fly har i den forgangne periode primært fløjet Close Air Support-missioner (CAS), hvor flyene er indsat som luftstøtte til styrker på landjorden. Luftstøtten kan bestå af flere forskellige opgaver, afhængig af hvad der er behov for. Det kan både dreje sig om overvågningsopgaver og bombninger af mål. På nogle af CAS-missionerne har de danske F-16 fly kastet bomber i forbindelse med kamphandlinger på jorden. Målet for bomberne har været køretøjer og fjendtlige styrker.

På de missioner, hvor flyene 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.

Derudover har de danske fly også gennemført Air Interdiction missioner. Her planlægges et specifikt angreb mod et på forhånd defineret mål udførligt og detaljeret hjemmefra, og flyene flyver direkte frem til målet, kaster bomber og flyver retur. Ved denne type missioner har de danske fly primært bombet bygninger.

I løbet af de seneste 19 missioner har de danske fly kastet 14 bomber mod fjendtlige styrker, køretøjer og bygninger.

Siden første mission den 16. oktober 2014, har det danske bidrag i alt fløjet 93 missioner og anvendt 74 bomber. Alle de danske bomber er præcisionsstyrede, hvilket vil sige at de styres mod deres mål af enten laser eller GPS.

December 10th 2014 – U.S. military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria Dec 8-10 using fighter and bomber aircraft to conduct seven airstrikes. Separately, U.S. and partner nation military forces conducted 13 airstrikes in Iraq Dec. 8-10 using fighter, attack, and remotely-piloted aircraft against the ISIL terrorists.

In Syria, seven airstrikes near Kobani destroyed five ISIL fighting positions and struck three other ISIL fighting positions and a large ISIL unit.

In Iraq, four airstrikes near Sinjar destroyed four ISIL-occupied buildings, three ISIL storage containers and two ISIL fighting positions and also struck an ISIL guard tower [British].

Near al-Qaim, three airstrikes destroyed an ISIL storage container and an ISIL armored vehicle, and also struck two ISIL bunkers [Canadian], two ISIL armored vehicles and two ISIL armored personnel carriers.

Near Ramadi, two airstrikes destroyed an ISIL armored vehicle and a heavy weapon, and also struck a tactical ISIL unit.

Near Mosul, two airstrikes destroyed two ISIL-occupied buildings, an ISIL bunker and struck a tactical ISIL unit.

Near Samarra, an airstrike destroyed two ISIL vehicles and struck a tactical ISIL unit.

Near Kirkuk, an airstrike struck a tactical ISIL unit.

December 9th 2014 – Military support to the Iraqi government in their fight against ISIL continues, with Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft conducting further strikes overnight [December 8th/9th].

In the north-west of the country, a patrol of RAF Tornado GR4s was tasked by coalition air controllers to investigate an ISIL site near Mount Sinjar.

The aircraft identified an observation tower and guard room in use by the terrorists at a checkpoint controlling a road junction. These were being used to deny the local population any freedom of movement and both were attacked with Brimstone missiles.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a RAF Reaper providing surveillance for Iraqi ground forces observed a hostile armoured personnel carrier and successfully attacked it with a Hellfire missile.

Early on Wednesday [December 10th] RAF Tornado GR4s attacked an ISIL storage compound near Rawah in Anbar province with a Paveway IV precision guided bomb.