RAF air strikes in Iraq and Syria: November 2017
Updated 24 March 2023
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Wednesday 1 November
Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s, based at RAF Akrotiri and supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker, flew an armed reconnaissance patrol over western Iraq. A coalition surveillance aircraft identified a group of terrorists gathered at a command post some miles to the north-west of Al Qaim, close to the Syrian border. Our aircraft attacked using 2 Paveway IV guided bombs; one demolished the command post building, whilst the second weapon accounted for several terrorists outside, along with their vehicles.
Thursday 2 November
Tornados conducted operations in the same area, and successfully bombed a building in which a Daesh observation post was stationed, attempting to direct mortar fire against Iraqi ground forces.
Saturday 4 November
Two Tornados patrolled the other side of the border, in the far east of Syria. A mortar team was identified north-east of al Mayadin and successfully bombed. The Tornados then used a further Paveway IV to collapse the entrance to a terrorist tunnel nearby.
Sunday 5 November
Two flights of Typhoon FGR4s, armed with Paveway IVs, flew similar missions over eastern Syria. One flight eliminated a mortar team near the border town of Abu Kamal, whilst the second pair of Typhoons successfully conducted four phased attacks against a tunnel complex near Al Mayadin.
Thursday 9 November
Two Tornados used a Brimstone missile and 2 Paveway IVs to destroy a terrorist vehicle and stockpiled supplies in the deserts of western Iraq.
Saturday 11 November
A pair of Typhoons patrolled over northern Iraq. Three improvised explosive devices had been identified, dug into embankments alongside roads around 20 miles north-west of Bayji, and the Typhoons were tasked with the safe destruction of these deadly booby-traps. Each was hit in turn with a Paveway IV.
Sunday 12 November
A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft operating over eastern Syria similarly disposed of another booby-trap left behind by the terrorists, an armoured truck-bomb parked on the edge of a road some 20 miles south-east of Al Mayadin. This was struck by a GBU-12 guided bomb and destroyed.
Thursday 16 November
The SDF have continued their operations against extremists south-east of Al Mayadin, in eastern Syria, and an RAF Reaper provided close air support to them. The first terrorist threat that the Reaper’s crew identified was a vehicle being driven at very high speed towards the SDF positions.
Fearing this to be a probable truck bomb, the Reaper’s crew tracked the lorry, ready to engage. However, no intervention was necessary, as the driver lost control of the vehicle, which crashed off the road and promptly exploded; it had indeed been a truck-bomb. The Reaper subsequently spotted a group of terrorists opening fire on the SDF; a GBU-12 guided bomb quickly eliminated this threat.
Saturday 18 November
Tornados from RAF Akrotiri patrolled over north-west Iraq. Another coalition aircraft identified a Daesh truck, loaded with equipment, concealed under cover some 35 miles west of Sharaq. The Tornados were requested to conduct an attack with the very precise Brimstone missile, and did so successfully, destroying the vehicle.
Wednesday 22 November
Intelligence identified a complex of buildings in northern Iraq, some 30 miles west of Sharqat, as a truck-bomb factory. Two Typhoons bombed the target site with 6 Paveway IV guided bombs on; 2 weapons demolished a large workshop, while single bombs dealt with the 4 other, smaller buildings.