RAF Tornados bomb ‘Islamic State’ fighters in northern Iraq

RAF Tornado fighter bombers have successfully attacked a large group of so-called ‘Islamic State’ terrorists targeting Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, the British Ministry of Defence said.

A Tornado GR4 patrol was able to “guide” a Paveway bomb on to a group of more than 30 fighters from ‘IS’ – also referred to as ‘Isis’, ‘Isil’ or ‘Daesh’/’Daish’ – near Sinjar.

The sortie, which took place on Monday, was carried out in support of an offensive by Kurdish peshmerga fighters mounted against ‘IS’ in the Mosul region.

“The first flight used a Paveway bomb to destroy a mortar position which had opened fire on the Kurds. The following mission destroyed a heavy machine gun near Mosul with a Paveway IV, then proceeded west towards Sinjar,” the MoD said in a statement.

“There was heavy cloud, which may have encouraged the terrorists to assume that they were safe from air attack but, working very closely with the Kurdish forces, the GR4s were able to guide a Paveway on to a large group of over 30 Daesh terrorists who were massing for a counter-attack; the Kurdish unit subsequently reported that the air strike had been highly effective.

“The Tornado patrol then destroyed another Isil mortar position south-west of Sinjar.”

The previous day, an RAF Reaper drone patrolling over northern Iraq destroyed a “terrorist vehicle” with a Hellfire missile.

It then crossed into Syrian airspace where it provided “surveillance support” to a wave of French air strikes on the IS stronghold of Raqqa, carried out in retaliation for the Paris terror attacks of November 13.

RAF Tornados have also been flying in support of Iraqi government forces in the Ramadi region, carrying out a series of successful attacks on ‘IS’ positions on Friday, the MoD said.

“Our aircraft conducted four successful attacks on a set of Da’ish terrorist positions, using a combination of Paveway IV guided bombs and Brimstone missiles,” said the MoD.

Also on Friday, an RAF Reaper assisted an Iraqi unit which reported that a group of ‘IS’ fighters were sheltering in a derelict industrial site, and “hiding under an oil tank”.

The Reaper’s crew were able to direct a guided bomb, the GBU-12, on to the terrorist position.

Details of the latest operations were released as France issued what was described as an unprecedented demand for its European Union allies to support its military action against ‘IS’.

The French government invoked a never-before-used article of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty which requires member states to provide “aid and assistance by all the means in their power” to a member that is “the victim of armed aggression on its territory”.

French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said EU partners could help “either by taking part in France’s operations in Syria or Iraq, or by easing the load or providing support for France in other operations”.

The call came as French war planes launched a second wave of strikes on Raqqa, destroying a command post and a training camp, according to a military spokesman.

In an emotional address to the two French houses of parliament on Monday, President Francois Hollande pledged to build a coalition capable of defeating the jihadists at home and abroad.

With at least 129 people known to have died in the Paris attacks, Hollande called on the international community – led by the US and Russia – to set aside their differences over Syria to destroy ‘IS’ on its home ground.

US secretary of state John Kerry, who flew into France as a gesture of solidarity, said that more had to be done to tackle the jihadist threat.

Standing with Hollande at the Elysee Palace, Kerry said “we have to step up our efforts to hit them at the core where they’re planning these things and also obviously to do more on borders in terms of the movement of people”.