SULAIMANI (ESTA) — British defense ministry said on Thursday Britain conducted several airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in northern Iraq in March as part of a coordinated 10-day operation with Iraqi security forces.
The British ministry of defense (MoD) said Royal Air Force (RAF) and other coalition aircraft carried out air offensive during the operation as the Iraqi forces cleared ISIS from the Makhmour mountains region, southwest of Erbil.
Iraqi forces launched Operation Lion Ready on March 9 in Makhmour to target ISIS militants that were still active in the area, in coordination with the Peshmerga forces.
Yehia Rasool, spokesman for commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said the U.S.-led Coalition forces launched 312 airstrikes that destroyed 120 caves and sites.
Makhmour is part of a swathe of northern Iraqi territory and claimed by both the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The British defense ministry said on March 22 when ISIS militants were confirmed to be based in a network of caves in the Makhmour mountains.
Three RAF Typhoon FGR4 fighter jets attacked using Storm Shadow missiles, according to the ministry.
The British defense ministry said the strike was assessed by subsequent surveillance to have been a success.
“The British Armed Forces, alongside our Iraqi and Coalition partners, continue to root out Daesh terrorists from where they hide,” British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said, according to Reuters.
“The UK is committed to defeating Daesh. This operation will prevent the terrorist group and its toxic ideology from regaining a foothold in Iraq and reduce its capability to coordinate attacks around the world,” Wallace added.
The MoD said that in a separate operation on April 4, an RAF Reaper drone, armed with Hellfire missiles, successfully struck a small group of ISIS militants in northern Syria, some 50 miles (80 km) west of Al Hasakah.
