RAF Hellfire missile strike blows up ISIS unit trying to set up new lair in Iraq

Hellfire missiles are fired from an RAF Reaper drone - Photo Credit: Mirror

An RAF drove blasted an ISIS lair with Hellfire missiles as the militants sought to establish a new foothold in Iraq.

An RAF drone blitzed ISIS terrorists trying to set up a new lair in Iraq.

The unmanned Reaper aircraft deployed on Operation Shader unleashed a barrage of Hellfire missiles after Iraqi security forces spotted an Islamic State unit “attempting to re-establish a presence in an area to the north of Tikrit”, the Ministry of Defence revealed.

Other warplanes from the alliance of Western forces targeting ISIS were also involved.

The MoD said the MQ-9A British Reaper, “at an appropriate opportunity, when the terrorists were exposed in the open away from any civilians, conducted a successful attack alongside the other coalition aircraft”.

It said the “terrorists (were) eliminated before they could mount an active threat to the Iraqi people”.

The 288mph Reaper is piloted remotely by a three-man crew who can be based thousands of miles away.

When armed with its four air-to-ground 114 Hellfire missiles, it can stay airborne at 30,000ft for more than 12 hours collecting intelligence and targeting enemies.

The June 14 bombing raid, which has only just been revealed, came as ISIS extremists bid to return to former strongholds of their caliphate across Iraq and Syria.

It comes after two people were killed and four injured yesterday after jihadists planted roadside bombs at two locations in northern and central Iraq.

In May, six rockets were fired at an oil refinery in Kurdistan causing "minor damage" in a non-claimed attack widely blamed on ISIS.



PUKmedia / Mirror