LONDON: A Reaper drone from the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) has successfully attacked suspected Daesh combatants in Iraq.
The drone, which fired a single laser-guided “smart bomb,” was called in to assist Iraqi security forces after they were attacked by a suspected Daesh cell in Anbar province.
Jets from the anti-Daesh international coalition strafed the targets before the RAF’s Reaper hit retreating fighters.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said: “The crew of the Reaper successfully located them (the fighters), and at an appropriate moment, with no sign of a strike posing any risks to friendly forces or any civilians, conducted a carefully planned attack with a GBU-12 guided bomb. The Iraqi forces subsequently reported that the threat had been eliminated.”
The MoD said the RAF continues to fly daily armed reconnaissance patrols to prevent Daesh from retaking ground in the region.
The RAF has come under considerable criticism this year due to accusations that it has masked “credible evidence” of civilian deaths from its operations in the Middle East.
