February 4, 2021 12.13 pm This story is over 45 months old

RAF Typhoons bomb ISIS terrorist caves in Iraq

Typhoons carried out a successful air strike

Royal Air Force Typhoons killed an ISIS terrorist threat after a successful bombing mission in Iraq.

The Royal Air Force have Typhoon squadrons at both RAF Coningsby and RAF Lossiemouth. The pilots, trained at the Lincolnshire base, performed the airstrikes using Paveway IV precision guided bombs.

A coalition surveillance aircraft located a number of Daesh fighters in two caves ten miles north of Bayji, Iraq on Sunday, January 24. The Daesh terrorist movement is also known as ISIS.

Two RAF Typhoon aircraft were tasked to strike the caves. The pilots conducted a check of the area around the caves for any signs of civilians who might be at risk.

They then carried out simultaneous attacks and launched four Paveway IV guided bombs.

All four hit their targets accurately and the strike was assessed to have been a success in eliminating the terrorist threat.

The RAF’s armed reconnaissance missions support the enduring work of the Iraqi security forces. | Photo: Crown Copyright/MOD 2021

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “The UK Armed Forces are still maintaining their primary defence tasks while also supporting the domestic COVID response.

“These RAF strikes help maintain the pressure on Daesh and prevent them once again inflicting their twisted ideology on the people of Iraq.”

The RAF’s armed reconnaissance missions support the enduring work of the Iraqi security forces to prevent any resurgence of the Daesh terrorist movement within their country as part of Operation Shader.

There are currently three Typhoon squadrons at RAF Coningsby and four at RAF Lossiemouth. However, the MOD doesn’t tend to confirm which station the squadron is from for specific operations.

In addition, Coningsby has a training squadron and another that deals with tactics and develops and tests new equipment.