War On ISIL:Battle of Mosul Imminent in Northern Iraq

According to the UK Defence Minister Michael Fallon,military cooperation agreements on the Battle of Mosul,Iraq were finalised on 23 September 2016;encirclement operations will begin in the next few weeks;and Mosul,the largest ISIL bastion in Iraq,will be liberated from ISIL in the next few months.*
Special Operations Forces from undisclosed Operation Inherent Resolve coalition countries are already conducting covert operations behind enemy lines.*
Logistics hub for the massive campaign is Qayyarah Air Base about 40 miles/60 km of Mosul.It was recaptured from ISIL in July.It's been reconfigured to handle military transport planes,providing a direct supply line to the OIR coalition members in the Mosul area,instead of having to truck supplies 185 miles up from Baghdad.
The US and French Armies have emplaced artillery systems on the base.Their mobile howitzers can range out half the distance to Mosul;while their artillery rockets can strike the city itself from Qayyarah in less than 20 seconds with high accuracy.*
About 22,000 Iraqi Security Forces,including Army and Special Operations Forces and backed by thousands more Kurdish Peshmerga,paramilitary or tribal militias,are poised to execute the battle plan with coalition close air support against the approximately 3,000-4500 ISIL militants that remain within Mosul along with 500,000-700,000 civilians.They have fortified the city with untold miles of trenches,each three meters deep by 2 meters wide.Some of the trenches have been filled with oil.*
Qayarrah Air Base is closed to the media.As the battle progresses,a new air base will be established next to Mosul to support combat operations even more readily.

War On ISIL:Navy SEAL Killed in Action - how the US responded to the assault

At 9:30 am local time,ISIL militants,having broken through Kurdish Peshmerga front lines near the town of Tel Asqof in Northern Iraq with bulldozers and suicide bombs,including vehicle-borne IEDs,killed a US Navy SEAL with direct small arms fire 3-5 km behind the front lines.He's been identified as Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Charles Keating IV,31,of Phoenix,Arizona,grandson of the late banker Charles H. Keating,Jr.,who was imprisoned for five years for financial crimes committed in the 1980s.SWO Keating,based at Coronado,California,was there advising and assisting the Peshmerga,who are regarded as among the most effective fighting forces in the anti-ISIL Operation Inherent Resolve.*
The militants had overrun Asqof at dawn in a rare,if temporary,loss by the Kurds.SWO Keating,engaged to be married,was killed in a firefight that erupted in the course of the extended battle that followed.US F-15Cs and drones came to the Kurds' assistance,dropping at least 20 bombs and helping to drive ISIL back out of Tel Asqof.It was the third US combat death in OIR.Besides SWO Keating,according to the Kurdistan Region Security Council,more than 80 militants and at least 10 Kurds died in the Battle of Tel Asqof,which is about 28 km/17 miles from the ISIL stronghold of Mosul.Christian militiamen also assisted the Kurds.*
The US is in the process of moving Special Operations Forces closer to the front lines in Northern Iraq,and bringing in more troops and Apache helicopters as OIR ground forces begin encircling Mosul,having driven ISIL out of Ramadi,Anbar Province in December 2015,and then expelling them from the Hit region,also in Anbar Province,driving the Islamist extremists up the Euphrates River Valley.

Inside the Night Raid on ISIL by Kurdish and US Special Forces - tactical details not on TV

At the request of the Kurdish Regional Government,Kurdish counterterrorist troops,backed by US Special Operations Forces,staged a raid in the early hours of Thursday on an ISIL prison in Kirkuk Province,seven kilometers north of the ISIL stronghold of Hawija in Northern Iraq.Dozens of US troops participated in the operation.Intelligence had been received indicating the prisoners' execution by ISIL militants was imminent.The raid was approved by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.
The raid began as five US helicopters left Irbil,the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan,to provide troop transport,intelligence and airstrikes for the operation.Attack helicopters strafed the prison area before the raid to block approaches for any potential ISIL reinforcements;after the raid,the helos destroyed the prison.
Once inserted in the prison,the Kurds came under intense attack.Seeing the Kurds pinned down and taking hits,their US advisors engaged the miltants.One of the US special operatives was wounded in the firefight and airlifted to an Irbil hospital,where he died-the first American to die in combat in Iraq since the US withdrew its forces in 2011.The battle lasted two hours.
Killed was Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler,39,of Roland,Oklahoma.A member of the 2nd Battalion,75th Ranger Regiment,Joint Base Lewis-McChord,Washington state,he was assigned to Army Special Operations Command,Fort Bragg,North Carolina.MSGT Wheeler had served more than 12 combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan-one of the most experienced and valiant members of the SOFs.
About 70 prisoners,among whom were around 20 Iraqi Security Forces members,were freed during the raid.All of the prisoners were reportedly Arabs.More than 20 of the ISIL Islamist extremists were killed in the operation and five were captured.The US gleaned valuable intelligence on ISIL from the raid,said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook.*
In May,US SOFs had staged a raid in Syria and killed a senior ISIL leader,Abu Sayyaf of Tunisia.

War On ISIL:New Chairman Visits Iraq;ISF Reclaim Beiji;A-10s Deployed

A number of developments in the War On ISIL are in the news.Yesterday,General Joseph Dunford,USMC,new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,visited the Iraqi city of Irbil in the north of the country while on the first trip of his tenure,having previously stopped in Israel and Jordan.In Irbil GEN Dunford met with Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani at the Kurdish White House.
I hope coming here so soon after I assumed my new position indicates how important this endeavour is to us,GEN Dunford said.And upfront I want to thank you for your cooperation and the bravery of your forces.*
At the Kurdish Training Coordination Center in Irbil,which is under Italian command,journalists were briefed on the training regimen by a senior coalition officer.There are currently 4200 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in training at the three training areas.Coming off the front line just 60 kilometers away,they are trained for 5-6 weeks before re-entering the battlefield.The training is tailored to the specific needs of the units.
Besides Italy,other NATO countries contributing to the force of about 300 instructors are Norway,the UK,Germany,the Netherlands and Hungary-plus NATO partner Finland.The Kurdish Peshmerga's infantry skills are reinforced,and they are taught the capabilities of new weapons coming into their system and how to function as a unit.Other topics include marksmanship;counter-ground tactics;combat medicine;manoeuvering as a unit;and forward observing.A special emphasis is placed on dealing with IEDs,which cause 80-85% of Kurdish casualties.Tactics,techniques and procedures against the devices are instilled.
The officer said he was impressed with the brave,dedicated and coherent units of the Kurdish forces.Both in Iraq and Syria,they have become a critical ground combat element of Operation Inherent Resolve,assisted by close air support from the OIR coalition.Up to 5,000 Kurds can be trained at one time.*
In the west,eight brigades of Sunni tribal militias are being trained for the effort to retake capital city Ramadi and the rest of Anbar Province.Iraqi Security Forces and militias have encircled Ramadi as a first step in retaking the city,where some 600-1,000 ISIL militants are based.*
In Salahuddin Province,Central Iraq,a major offensive by Iraqi Security Forces-principally the counterterrorism service-along with federal and local police,plus Iranian-backed Shia paramilitary militias,and aided by OIR coalition close air support,has been mounted to clear the province of the ISIL Islamist extremists.It is seen as a precursor operation to the looming battle for the ISIL northern stronghold of Mosul.Last week,the ISF and partners retook the strategic Beiji oil refinery and today,20 October,announced the recapture of Beiji city itself from ISIL.*
On the Syrian front,the US Air Force has just deployed 12 A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft to Incirlik Air Base,Turkey,to assist in the OIR Syria campaign.These will enhance close air support to the YPG Kurdish Forces and the Syrian Arab Coalition as they battle ISIL.

CENTCOM Update:The War On ISIL - plus Australia's first Syria strike

On Friday,11 September,US Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder,US Air Force,gave a progress report on Operation Inherent Resolve to journalists via teleconference.The OIR coalition's support continues to enable indigenous forces by applying pressure on ISIL's key command and control areas;logistics nodes;staging areas;and lines of communication.A special focus has been the Beiji and Ramadi areas,COL Ryder said.For example,one recent airstrike targeted a key ISIL staging area and weapons depot just west of Ramadi in a soccer stadium.
The Beiji oil refinery is still being contested,with both ISIL and the Iraqi Security Forces bringing in reinforcements.From 2-9 September,13 coalition airstrikes took out a number of ISIL personnel there;nearly 100 vehicles;and several weapons and supply caches,according to COL Ryder.ISIL continues to put up a fight,but we assess they have lost several hundred fighters and continue to reinforce failure by sending in additional forces.*
Besides airstrikes,the OIR coalition Building Partner Capacity sites have trained around 13,000 ISF since the operation began,with 4,000 more troops currently in training.We have seen graduates of this program subsequently operate effectively in areas around Ramadi and other parts of Iraq,such as the Iraqi forces trained in large scale IED clearing who are reducing ISF and civilian casualties.
On another front,the advise and assist mission continues to enable ground forces in Iraq by helping with planning ground operations;intelligence sharing;integrating air support into operations;logistics planning;command and control;and communications.*
In Syria,the OIR coalition's train-and-equip programme continues training vetted Syrian opposition force recruits,with a fourth class recently having begun their training.It's important to keep in mind this programme is still in its early stages and the forces trained are expected to be additive in nature.This will further contribute to what's already being done by the Syrian Kurds,Arabs and other anti-ISIL forces.*
In the latest airstrikes in Syria,fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 4 sorties.Near Dayr Ar Zawr,2 sorties struck an ISIL crude oil collection point and destroyed an ISIL excavator.Near Kobani,a sortie destroyed an ISIL artillery piece.Near Mara,a sortie struck an ISIL tactical unit.*
In Iraq,attack;bomber;fighter;fighter attack;and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 14 airstrikes coordinated with the Iraqi government.Among them,near Beiji,4 sorties struck 1 large and 2 small ISIL tactical units and destroyed 6 ISIL buildings;3 ISIL vehicles;an ISIL anti-aircraft artillery piece;and an ISIL structure.
Near Ramadi,2 sorties destroyed 4 ISIL weapons caches;an ISIL armoured personnel carrier;and an ISIL vehicle-borne IED.Near Tuz,a sortie struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.*
The Iraq airstrikes were carried out by the US;Australia;Canada;Denmark;France;Jordan;the Netherlands;and the UK.
The Syria airstrikes were carried out by the US;Bahrain;Canada;Jordan;Saudi Arabia;new participant Turkey;and the UAE.
Update:On Tuesday,Australia revealed it had conducted its first airstrike in Syria on Monday 14 September.Two RAAF Hornets identified an ISIL armoured personnel carrier hidden in an ISIL compound,according to Defence Minister Kevin Andrews.One of the Hornets attacked the APC with a precision guided weapon,destroying it.
Last week,Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Australia was extending its OIR airstrikes from Iraq into Syria at the request of the US.Australia has been conducting Iraq airstrikes for about a year.

CENTCOM Gives Iraq Campaign Update-Iraq receives F-16s

The first 4 of the Iraqi Air Force's 36 new Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons have arrived at Balad Air Base,Iraq,their pilots and crews having undergone extensive US Air Force training in Arizona.The NATO platform aircraft gives the IAF the interoperability necessary to conduct operations with coalition forces,said US Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder,USAF in a teleconference with reporters on 24 July.
COL Ryder also gave an assessment of the Iraqi Security Forces' recent progress against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.They are in the process of isolating Ramadi in Anbar Province,to conduct a deliberate clearing operation to retake the provincial capital city,COL Ryder noted.The counterattack began on 12 July,and since then,76 Operation Inherent Resolve airstrikes have weakened ISIL by targeting enemy positions,weapons caches and equipment.ISIL is resisting by using vehicle bombs,suicide bombers and other tactics to slow the ISF advance,as well as by circulating propaganda to mitigate their losses and overstate operational performance.CENTCOM is encouraged by the ISF well-developed and comprehensive plan they have put together and executed.
The majority of Beiji is now under ISF control,although its oil refinery,the largest in Iraq,is still being contested.In the North,the Kurdish forces hold their defensive lines from Sinjar to the north side of Mosul,then down to the north of Kirkuk aginst ISIL's harassing attacks centered between Sinjar and Mosul.Since 12 July,coalition aircraft have conducted 16 dynamic airstrikes on enemy personnel,weapons and equipment in the Mosul area.
Overall,we've removed hundreds more fighters from the battlefield in Iraq and Syria,including numerous ISIL leaders and facilitators.This inevitably reduces the organisation's effectiveness and forces them to make tough choices on how and where to apply resources,COL Ryder concluded.*
Among the latest airstrike results as of 28 July:
Fighter,fighter-attack,bomber and remotely-piloted aircraft conducted airstrikes in Syria.Near Hasakah,7 sorties destroyed 4 ISIL fighting positions,a staging position,a bunker,a motorcycle and a structure.
Near Aleppo,2 sorties destroyed a vehicle,7 fighting positions and a bunker.*
There were 23 airstrikes in Iraq approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defence:
Near Beiji,3 sorties struck 2 tactical units and terrain,denying ISIL a tactical advantage,and destroying 2 buildings.
Near Makhmur,3 sorties destroyed 19 fighting positions,10 tunnels and 3 vehicles.
Near Mosul,2 sorties destroyed 2 fighting positions and a vehicle.
Near Ramadi,6 sorties destroyed an excavator,2 fighting positions,a resupply truck,a mortar position,an anti-aircraft artillery weapon,a vehicle and a structure.
Near Sinjar,5 sorties destroyed a vehicle,a heavy machine gun,5 fighting positions and a light machine gun.
Those participating in the Iraq strikes included the US,Australia,Canada,Denmark, France,Jordan,the Netherlands and the UK.
Participating in the Syria strikes were the US,Bahrain,Canada,Jordan,Saudi Arabia and the UAE.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT)

ISIL Prison Break;Kurdish General Killed;Operation Inherent Resolve Airstrikes

ISIL is claiming responsibility for a prison break in Khalis,Diyala Province,Iraq on Friday 8 May.Fifteen IEDs were detonated against army and police convoys and vehicles around the prison to begin a coordinated attack,ISIL said;while the Iraqi Interior Ministry says the melee began as a fight between prisoners that turned into a riot.
In any event,inside the prison,prisoners managed to break into the prison armoury and seize its weapons.In the ensuing firefight with security forces,some 50 inmates and 12 police were killed;while more than 50 prisoners escaped,nine of them convicted terrorists.
Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area and searched homes for the escapees.It was a small prison break in contrast with those at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison in July of 2013,when more than 500 prisoners were freed,including leading Islamist extremists;or the June 2014 breaks in Tikrit and Mosul,when hundreds of Sunni Muslims were freed and recruited into ISIL.It seems that fomenting prison breaks is a key element of ISIL's strategy as a means of garnering headlines,freeing terrorists and gleaning recruits.*
Major General Salah Delmani of the 118th Brigade Kurdish Peshmerga and two of is bodyguards were killed by a bomb blast near his car Tuesday near the city of Kirkuk in Northern Iraq.No one has claimed responsibility,but ISIL controls part of Kirkuk Province outside the city,which is under Kurdish control.ISIL desires to capture the city because of the oil fields nearby and has attacked it many times.MGEN Delmani was commander of Daquq village,which is south of Kirkuk on the strategic road to Baghdad which was recently recaptured from ISIL by the Kurds.*
Between 8 am Sunday 10 May and 8am Monday,the US-led coalition carried out a number of airstrikes on ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
In Syria,attack,fighter and remotely piloted aircraft carried out 9 sorties.
Near Hahaskah,6 sorties destroyed 3 ISIL fighting positions,3 vehicles,2 mortar positions,4 heavy machine guns and a supply point.Near Raqqah,1 sortie destroyed 2 vehicles.Near Kobani.2 sorties destroyed a mortar position and a vehicle.
Those participating in airstrikes on ISIL in Syria include the US,Bahrain,Canada,Jordan,Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In Iraq,near Beiji,2 sorties destroyed a vehicle.Near Fallujah,2 sorties destroyed 4 fighting positions and a vehicle.Near Haditha,1 sortie destroyed 2 fighting positions.Near Mosul,2 sorties struck a fighting position and land features giving ISIL a tactical advantage,the Pentagon said.
Those participating in airstrikes on ISIL in Iraq include the US,Australia,Belgium,Canada,Denmark,France,Jordan,the Netherlands and the UK.

US and Arab Warplanes Respond To ISIL Hostage-taking;Iraq's New F-16s

The US-led air campaign against ISIL militants targeted an area of Hasakeh Province in Northeast Syria where the Islamist jihadists have terrorised 10 Assyrian Christian villages.ISIL abducted at least 220 women,children and elderly Christians from two of the villages,the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported today.In response,US and Arab ally warplanes attacked ISIL positions near the town of Tal Tamir.A total of four sorties were carried out there.The US has confirmed ISIL's ravaging of the villages,saying the militants had burned homes and churches,as well as kidnapping a large number of helpless Assyrian Christians.Thousands of other Assyrian Christians from the villages took refuge in the provincial capital Qumlishi and Hasakeh city. *
Northeast Syria has seen heavy fighting in recent days between ISIL and the YPG Kurds/Christian militia alliance.
The YPG Kurds also cut the ISIL supply line between Northeast Syria and neighbouring Iraq.ISIL in Syria is reportedly running out of cash because of a loss of oil revenue caused by coalition bombing,as well as the difficulty in crossing the Syrian-Iraqi border posed by the YPG Kurds.ISIL has consequently been salvaging and selling scrap metal generated by the war in Syria.
At the same time,ISIL have opened a new front in Southern Syria along the Lebanese border,where they claim to have engaged their anti-Assad rivals,the US-allied Free Syrian Army.The Lebanese army has reportedly responded to the fracas in the area by shelling jihadist militants who were crossing back and forth across the Syria-Lebanese border.*
The Iraqi Air Force has received the first of 36 Block 52 F-16 Fighting Falcons.The fighter bombers are straight off the Lockheed Martin assembly line.They will be armed with the most up to date weaponry.The aircraft were delivered to a base in Arizona,where 14 Iraqi pilots are receiving combat training from US Air National Guard trainers.When the training is completed and suitable bases have been built and secured in Iraq,the aircraft will be flown there and put into service.

Suffering Defeats,ISIL Takes Assyrian Christians Hostage

When Kurdish forces pushed ISIL out of some 30 villages in Northeast Syria recently,sweeping in from their retaking of Kobani,the Islamist jihadists responded by entering a lightly guarded village in al-Hasakeh Province at 4 am local time,invaded homes and dragged their Assyrian Christian hostages,including women,children and the elderly,away to an uncertain fate.According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,about 90 of the indigenous Assyrian Christians were seized,mostly from the village of Tal Shamirzm 85 km southwest of the provincial capital Qamishli.The Assyrians predate the arrival of Islam in the region,tracing their heritage back to the ancient Mesopotamians.Their traditional language is the Syriac dialect of Aramaic,a language spoken by Jesus Christ.The Assyrian Network for Human Rights believes they were taken to the village of Umm al-Masamir on Mt.Abdulaziz,around 25 km south of their home village.
At the same time,about 700 Assyrian Christian families,or 3,000 people,fled to al-Hasakeh city and took refuge in a church.Later reports say another 150 families found refuge in Qamishli,and that several of the Assyrian Christians were moved to the ISIL headquarters of Raqqa,Syria.
This comes after last week's massacre of 21 Coptic Orthodox Christian men from Egypt by ISIL in Libya.*
It was reported by the Iranian FARS news agency on Monday 22 February that Iraqi troops had killed more than seven ISIL Takfiri group militants in fighting south of Tikrit,Salahuddin Province.Then FARS reported on 23 February that Iraqi warplanes and artillery pounded the ISIL Takfiri group extremists in Tikrit itself,killing dozens and destroying two houses they were using as headquarters.
The Iraqi Air Force has several Russian ground attack aircraft,such as the Su-25,as well as a number of helicopter gunships.*
Ideal for surveillance and reconnaissance of ISIL,as well as the Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Afghanistan,are the US Air Force U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft stationed at an undisclosed Southwest Asia base.According to industry sources,however,it is al-Dhafra Air Base,UAE.Gathering intelligence is one of the main roles the US performs for the anti-ISIL coalition it leads in Operation Inherent Resolve.

Canadian Troops Suppress ISIL Barrage

Canadian special forces troops had traveled to the front lines in the past week with their Iraqi trainees,in order to visualise the map they had been studying.ISIL militants spotted them and opened up on them with a mortar and machine gun.Invoking their right of self-defence,the Canadians neutralised the enemy position by laying down sniper fire,according to General Michael Rouleau,commander of Canadian Special Operations Force Command.It was the first instance of coalition forces engaging in ground combat operations during Operation Inherent Resolve,the anti-Islamic State effort.General Rouleau described the ISIL militants' attack as being immediate and effective.
The Canadian SOP troops in Iraq number about 70.Their mission is to train,advise and assist Iraqi troops-particularly the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.In addition,they are serving as forward air controllers, targeting ISIL positions with laser markers,collecting intelligence on them and analysing what positions should be bombed.Six Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter aircraft are in Iraq participating in coalition airstrikes on Islamist militant targets,supported by another 600 Canadian troops.Canada is one of the leading contributors to Operation Inherent Resolve.
The SOP troops established Patrol Base Cirillo in a November ceremony.No Canadian soldiers were injured in last week's firefight.The incident points up the way even trainers can become involved in combat,the best intentions of their political leaders notwithstanding.Both Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama have insisted their troops are not on a combat mission.

Air War Heats Up As Syrian Front Concerns-top line warplanes used

Turkey has authorised the use of military force against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.It has also given permission for other countries to use its bases,such as Incerlik Air Base,in the conflict.
Several US and Arab ally airstrikes have been carried out in the Kobani area of Northern Syria in recent weeks as US allies the Kurdish ground forces attempt to save the strategically important city from Islamic State militants.The IS is trying to stretch its control over a swath of territory more than 100 kilometers-or 62 miles-from its headquarters in Raqqa,Syria to Kobani near the Turkish border.The airstrikes destroyed two IS fighting positions south of Kobani Tuesday.Also,witnesses observed two large plumes of smoke just west of Kobani after hearing the sounds of military aircraft.Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been participating in these Syria airstrikes.
One of the targets struck was an IS staging area/IED factory.
Despite the increased tempo of the air war against them,the militants have succeeded in capturing several villages near the city and making various incursions into it,raising their black and white flag.The IS has seized several buildings on the southern edge of town,as well as a hospital being built on the western side.Kurdish forces were still flying their flag over the center of town as of Tuesday,but are outnumbered and outgunned.*
Over the weekend,US Army Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships were brought into the air war for the first time to engage the enemy west of Baghdad,a sign of the deteriorating situation in Anbar Province.The targets there,as well as many of them in Kobani,are too close to Kurdish forces or the Turkish border to use fighter aircraft
against.*
On 22 September,the US Air Force sent its front line Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighters into combat for the first time ever.The Raptor,a stealth aircraft with internalised weapons bays,were used to strike IS targets in Syria.It was deemed appropriate to send them because of uncertainty about whether Syria might switch on its advanced air defences as the US conducted its first raids over Syria.In the event,Syria did not respond.
The Raptors were sent in the second wave of attacks.Stationed in the Middle East,the fifth generation warplanes can fly very high and fast-more than Mach 1.5-in all weather.The US Air Force has 188 of these agile strike aircraft.*
Also recently brought into the air war over Iraq were the RAF Panavia Tornado fighters.These swept wing aircraft are considered to be among the best high speed/low level attack planes in the world.They flew in from RAF Akrotiri,Cyprus.*
Lockheed Martin(LMT),Boeing(BA)