Thursday 29 December – Tornados and a Reaper struck five Daesh targets in Mosul, with the Tornados also destroying an artillery weapons north of Palmyra in Syria…The major focus for Royal Air Force operations against the Daesh terrorist network has continued to provide support to the Iraqi offensive to liberate Mosul. Two Tornado GR4s and a Reaper patrolled over the city on Thursday 29 December. The Reaper used its advanced sensors for the vital task of scanning for any sign of civilians who might be placed at risk by the fighting. It also provided surveillance assistance to five coalition air attacks that struck two communications towers, a mortar, a transport vehicle and a recoilless anti-tank gun, as well as conducting three successful attacks using its own Hellfire missiles against a mortar team firing from a treeline and two groups of terrorist fighters located in south-east Mosul. The Tornados meanwhile used a Brimstone missile to destroy a cart laden with weapons in a street in eastern Mosul, and Paveway IV guided bombs against an artillery position hidden amongst trees in parkland in northern Mosul. The GR4s were then tasked to fly west into Syria to deal with a terrorist artillery piece, mounted on a trailer, which had been identified a couple miles north of Palmyra. The weapon was destroyed by a direct hit from a Brimstone.