Two ISIS terror cells found hiding in caves have been destroyed by British RAF fighter jets using laser-guided bombs in Iraq.
A pair of RAF Typhoon FGR4s conducted simultaneous attacks using two Paveway IV guided bombs to kill the terrorists based in two caves near Bayji, a city 130 miles north of Baghdad.
The attack comes just days after Iraq said an airstrike had killed an ISIS commander in Iraq who had claimed to be the leader of the terror group in the country.
A coalition surveillance aircraft had located a number of ISIS fighters on January 24 and the two fighter jets were tasked to strike them, according to a statement by the Ministry of Defence.
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British warplanes have struck two ISIS groups as coalition forces intensify their effort to stop the terrorists regrouping in northern Iraq.
Defence analysts expect there will be an increase in US-led attacks on the extremists in retaliation for suicide bombs that killed 32 civilians in Baghdad on January 21.
The RAF strike was part of “keeping the boot on the terrorists throat,” defence sources said.
Defence analysts said that ISIS is using the pandemic to try to regroup after it was defeated in Syria and Iraq.
The latest attack came after a coalition surveillance aircraft picked up a number of fighters operating around caves a few miles from Bayji, a city about 200 kilometres north of Iraq’s capital.
free the rest of iraq from isil, but before that, there is a lot of work to be done in anbar. we have to move up to secure more of the euphrates river val e lee on the other side of the country, and the tigress still e need needs help up around bay ji. and that is going to be taking some time, and we have to finish training the remainder of the iraqi army, and are reset some of the forces fighting hard over the last several months. mosul will come, but it is going to be a while. and tell us about the role, and you have talked about the training and the advising of the iraqi force, and we know they are u.s.-led air strikes. tell us about the role that the u.s.-led coalition is playing right now? well, we have played a pretty great role. here are from the air, and delivering devastating air pow, and we ve dropped over 2,000 p
bayji, hewiji. that highway leads to kirkuk. we re talking iraqi security forces. the iraqi security forces have been fighting in towns like bayji and ramadi, in hawija, in kirkuk. they are trying to reach mosul, the second largest city. you have the kurdish peshmerga fighters fighting along highway 47. if you can cut those two supply lines and eliminate the ability of isis to move back and forth across the area, you re executing a very well thought out campaign plan. what we ve seen in the past, as the iraqi security forces have grown, they ve been able to hit one place at a time. what s been significant over the last couple of days is we ve seen a whole lot more action in different areas. general mark hertling, thanks
so what we re doing is contacting the russians through appropriate channels to ask them to investigate the incident and determine whether it was purposeful or if it was an isolated incident by a hot-blooded pilot. but it s serious. you don t have an answer on that that? i don t. jim? for chairman dempsey you mentioned a moment ago that with the coalition concentration into the military offensive in the north, it almost sounds as if there may be insufficient forces or resources to keep ramadi from falling. how critical would it be if it fell into the hands of isis to the overall war effort? and it appears isis controls the city of bay ji and much of the surrounding territory, surrounding the critical infrastructure of that refinery. and they ve made advances on that.