The Special Air Service (SAS), one of the special forces units of the British Army, reportedly is coordinating with the US Specs Ops team to neutralise the Islamic State (Isis) militants in Raqqa.
The elite SAS team from UK operates under the US command. 300 personnel from the British special forces are working with the US to carry out joint operations codenamed Operation Shader.
The elite units are assisted by AC 130 Hercules planes, A10 Warthog gunships and even F-16 jets.
Operation Shader is the code name given to the British participation in the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).[2][1] The operation began on 26 September 2014 following a formal request for assistance by the Iraqi government.[1] Prior to this, the Royal Air Force had been engaged in a humanitarian relief effort over Mount Sinjar, which involved multiple humanitarian aid airdrops by transport aircraft and the airlifting of displaced refugees in Northern Iraq. By 21 October 2014, the intervention had extended onto Syria with the Royal Air Force conducting surveillance flights over the country.[7] On 7 September 2015, a Royal Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone conducted an airstrike in Syria which killed two British-born ISIL fighters.[8]
On 17 September 2015, it was reported that around 330 ISIL fighters had been killed by British airstrikes, with zero civilian casualties.[9][10][1] By 26 September 2015, ISIL had lost a quarter of its territory.[1]
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Two Royal Air Force C-130J Hercules aircraft in Iraq, after being unloaded of vital humanitarian supplies on 9 September 2014.
On 9 August 2014, following the genocidal persecution of minorities in Northern Iraq, the British Government deployed the Royal Air Force over Iraq to conduct humanitarian aid airdrops. The first airdrop was conducted on 9 August, with two C-130 Hercules aircraft flying from RAF Akrotiri airdropping bundles of aid into Mount Sinjar.[11][12] A second airdrop commenced on 12 August but had to be aborted due to the risk of injury to civilians.[13] The airdrops were able to resume over Mount Sinjar within 24 hours and two large consignments of aid were delivered.[14] During the same day, the Ministry of Defence announced the deployment of Tornado GR4 strike aircraft. These aircraft, also flying from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, were to help coordinate British airdrops using their LITENING III reconnaissance pods; they were not authorized to conduct any airstrikes prior to Parliamentary approval.[15] Four Chinook transport helicopters were also deployed alongside them to participate in any required refugee rescue missions.[16] On 13 August, two Hercules aircraft dropped a third round of humanitarian aid into Mount Sinjar.[17] This was followed by a fourth and final round on 14 August, bringing the total number of humanitarian aid airdrops conducted by the RAF to seven.[18] The UK suspended its humanitarian aid airdrops on 14 August, citing the improved humanitarian situation in Mount Sinjar.[19]
On 18 August 2014, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon disclosed during an interview that members of the 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (2 YORKS) had been deployed on the ground in Irbil to help secure the area for a possible helicopter rescue mission. The battalion, which, at the time, was the Cyprus-based Theatre Reserve Battalion (TRB) for Operation Herrick in Afghanistan, had left Irbil within 24 hours.[20]
On 16 August 2014, following the suspension of humanitarian aid airdrops, the Royal Air Force began shifting its focus from humanitarian relief to reconnaissance. The Tornado GR4’s, which were previously used to help coordinate humanitarian aid airdrops, were re-tasked to gather vital intelligence for anti-ISIL forces. The Ministry of Defence also confirmed that an RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft had been deployed over the country on what was its first operational deployment since entering service.[21] The aircraft was based at RAF Al Udeid in Qatar alongside U.S. Rivet Joint and KC-135 tanker aircraft.[22][23] In addition to Tornado and Rivet Joint, the Royal Air Force also deployed Reaper, Sentinel, Shadow and Sentry aircraft to fly surveillance missions over Iraq and Syria.[24][25][26]
As of 26 September 2015, the United Kingdom had flown a third of all coalition surveillance flights over Iraq and Syria.[1]
Airstrikes[edit]
Tornado returns to Akrotiri after first airstrikes, 30 September 2014
RAF Tornado Destroys ISIS Armored Vehicle in Al Qaim, 2 November 2014.
On 2 September 2014, ISIL released a video threatening to behead British citizen David Haines. Prime Minister David Cameron reacted by saying that ISIL will be “be squeezed out of existence”.[27] On 10 September 2014, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond stated in Berlin that “Britain will not be taking part in any strikes in Syria”. This remark was quickly contradicted by a spokesman of Prime Minister David Cameron who said that the Prime Minister had “not ruled anything out” as far as airstrikes against ISIL were concerned.[28]
On 13 September 2014, following the release of a video showing the beheading of British citizen David Haines by Jihadi John of ISIL, David Cameron reacted by saying “We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.”[29] Parliament was recalled on 26 September to debate the authorization of British airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq. David Cameron told MPs that intervention, at the request of the Iraqi government, to combat a “brutal terrorist organisation”, was “morally justified”. He went on to state that ISIL was a direct threat to the United Kingdom and that British inaction would lead to “more killing” in Iraq. Following a seven-hour debate, Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of airstrikes, with 524 votes in favour and 43 against.[30] The 43 ‘No’ votes came from 23 Labour MPs, six Conservative MPs, five Scottish National Party MPs, three Social Democratic and Labour Party MPs, two Plaid Cymru MPs, one Liberal Democrat MP, one Green Party MP, and one Respect Party MP.[30] Following the vote, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC that the priority would be to stop the slaughter of civilians in Iraq, and that the UK and its allies would be guided by Iraqi and Kurdish intelligence in identifying targets.[30]
The Royal Air Force began conducting armed sorties over Iraq immediately after the vote, using six Tornado GR4s stationed at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.[31] The first airstrike occurred on 30 September when a patrol of two Tornado GR4s attacked an ISIL heavy weapons position using a Paveway IV laser-guided bomb and an armed pickup truck using a Brimstone missile. On 3 October 2014, the six Tornado GR4s were bolstered by an additional two aircraft, bringing the total number of combat aircraft deployed on Operation Shader to eight.[32] During the same day, it was reported that the Royal Navy had tasked Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender to escort the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) while she launched aircraft into Iraq and Syria.[33]
On 16 October 2014, the Ministry of Defence announced the deployment of an undisclosed number of MQ-9 Reaper unmanned combat aerial vehicles to assist with surveillance.[34] However, Michael Fallon stated that the Reapers could also conduct airstrikes alongside the Tornado GR4s.[34] The first airstrike conducted by a Reaper occurred on 10 November 2014.[35] By 26 September 2015 – a full year after the operation first began – Tornado and Reaper aircraft had flown over 1,300 missions against ISIL and had conducted more than 300 airstrikes, killing more than 330 ISIL fighters.[10][9][1]
According to Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, the UK had conducted a “huge number of missions” over Iraq by 13 December 2014, second only to the United States and five times as many as France.[36] By 5 February 2015, the UK had contributed 6% of all coalition airstrikes in Iraq – a contribution second only to the United States[37] – which the Defence Select Committee described as “modest”.[38]
