RAF drones in new strike to smash IS
BRITISH drones helped spearhead a massive Iraq offensive yesterday to win back the country’s largest province from Islamic State control.
Carrying Hellfire missiles and 500lb laser- guided bombs, the RAF Reapers are understood to have targeted IS forces, command posts and communications sites in the build-up to an operation that is expected to include RAF Tornado jets in the coming weeks.
It came as David Cameron called for more spending on drones, and the British military prepared to extend RAF and Special Forces operations into Syria where IS has its headquarters around the city of Raqqa.
UK and US forces have provided crucial surveillance and intelligence for the offensive in Iraq’s predominately Sunni Anbar province, with the initial attack being focused on the city of Falluja, which has been under siege by pro-government forces.
Controversially, the ground battle will be led by fighters from the Hashd al-Shaabi, a volunteer army dominated by Shia militias, as well as Iraqi military units and Sunni tribesmen opposed to IS.
The operation comes two months after the stunning IS over-running of Ramadi, the province’s capital and oil hub, paving the way for attacks on Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. At least 23 people were reported yesterday to have been killed in IS bombings inside Baghdad, fuelling fears of a new wave of attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Up to 10,000 fighters are expected to take part in the offensive with IS defences in both Falluja, 40 miles west of Baghdad, and Ramadi expected to be heavily fortified.
Dozens of suicide bombers are said to be waiting to take part in attacks on the joint force which is charged with succeeding where Iraq’s conventional wellequipped but poorly motivated military have failed.
‘We promise to exact revenge from the criminals of Daesh (IS) in the field of battle,’ Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, said in a statement. ‘Their cowardly crimes against unarmed civilians will only increase our resolve in pursuing them and evicting them from the last inch of Iraq’s territory.’
The presence of civilians in Falluja and Ramadi raises the prospect of intense street fighting and the possibility of IS using human shields. The militant group has called on Anbar’s residents to remain in the province and seek protection with IS.
The launch of the operation comes days after IS released a chilling video offering an extended version of its largest single massacre in Iraq – the killing last summer of up to 1,700 Shia army cadets in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s home town.
There is concern that the use in Anbar of Shia militias, which have been accused of war crimes during operations against IS, will lead to a backlash from the province’s Sunnis.
Backed by Iran, Hashd has emerged as one of Iraq’s most effective fighting forces.
The United Nations said yesterday that at least 15,000 civilians have been killed and twice as many wounded in Iraq between the start of 2014 and the end of April 2015.