Britain Drops 3,400 Bombs In Syria And Iraq

Despite its massive air campaign in Syria and Iraq, the British regime claims there is “no evidence” that its bombardment has killed a single civilian. It is a sheer lie. Stay with us for Jamie Merrill’s report in this regard titled: “Britain Drops 3,400 Bombs in Syria and Iraq.”

Britain’s RAF drones and jets have dropped more than 3,400 bombs and missiles in Iraq and Syria, an investigation by Middle East Eye has revealed, yet the British government maintains that there is “no evidence” they have killed a single civilian.

The vast quantities of ordnance dropped since the start of Operation Shader in 2014 seriously undermines the claim by ministers that the RAF has not caused any civilian casualties in the three-year-long bombing campaign, and has prompted calls for an investigation.

The Ministry of Defence does not routinely release statistics on the numbers of weapons used over Iraq and Syria, but an MEE analysis has combined weekly updates of operations in the region and information collated by campaign group Drone Wars.

It shows that up to the end of September UK forces have dropped at least 3,482 bombs and missiles, including 2,089 Paveway IV bombs and 486 Brimstone missiles dropped by Typhoon and Tornado jets. RAF Reaper drones have also fired 724 Hellfire missiles at unspecified targets.

The figures are conservative as MoD updates sometimes do not specify the number of bombs or missiles used in a strike, and last night MoD officials admitted that a further 86 bombs and missiles had been dropped in recent weeks.

The weapon of choice for RAF jets is the Paveway IV precision-guided bomb, but they have also fired large numbers of the more accurate Brimstone missile, which was originally designed as an anti-tank weapon but has been used extensively by the RAF to target snipers and vehicles.

The British regime describes the Brimstone as the most accurate weapon available that can be fired by aircraft, and they are conservatively estimated to cost £100,000 each; heavier Paveway IV bombs are estimated to cost £30,000 each, and Hellfire, fired by the Reaper drone fleet, cost £71,300 each.

RAF flew more than 8,000 sorties and killed more than 3,000 what it claims terrorists, but this could not be confirmed, as civilians have been bombed and killed in large numbers by the British and US jets. Despite the scale of the ordnance dropped by the RAF, the MoD claims it has “no evidence” that its strikes have caused any civilian casualties – a position now roundly rejected by defense analysts and opposition parties.

The US Air Force, which leads the so-called western coalition, says it has recorded more than 1,100 reports of possible civilian casualties in the three-year-long air war, but despite saying the air war is the “most challenging fight in decades”, the RAF has made so such assessment.

Reacting to the figures, military aviation experts and campaigners have said that it is no longer credible for the MoD to maintain that has not killed any civilians as part of the three-year-long operation.

Samuel Oakford, a spokesperson for Airwars, a group which monitors civilian casualties from international air strikes in the region, told MEE: “The UK’s claim that no British air strikes in Iraq or Syria have led to civilian deaths has always been difficult to believe Based on the coalition’s own civilian casualty reporting, it is extremely unlikely that a coalition member as active as the UK would have not had a hand in a single civilian death. As the campaign continues into its fourth year and more data about British involvement such as this is compiled, the MoD’s claim is becoming increasingly absurd.”

Over the course of the last 12 months the focus of the air battle has shifted from the Iraqi city of Mosul, which fell in July, to Raqqa in Syria.

But MEE analysis shows that the overwhelming majority of RAF weapons released took place in Iraq with 3,000 strikes, while a total of 482 bombs and missiles were dropped over Syria, prompting fears of blowback in the UK.

“Turning a blind eye to the consequences of air strikes and pretending they are somehow now ‘risk free’ is naive in the extreme,” said Chris Cole, director of campaign Drone Wars UK.

He added: “Unless we begin to understand and acknowledge the true cost of our ongoing wars in the Middle East, we are likely to pay a high price in the future.”

Airwars, which works with the RAF and US Air Force to report suspected civilian casualties, says that at least 5,600 civilians have been killed by coalition strikes.

In July there were reports that pro-western Iraqi soldiers used bulldozers to hide the bodies of hundreds of civilians killed in the final days of the battle for Mosul.

MEE’s analysis shows that during the fight for the Iraqi city, RAF Typhoons and Tornadoes dropped dozens of Paveway IV bombs on the city.

The RAF claims that it takes “all possible precautions to avoid civilian casualties”, but Amnesty International has previously expressed serious concerns about the air war’s toll on civilians. In a report earlier this year, it found the battle for West Mosul had caused a “civilian catastrophe”.

Civilians were being ruthlessly exploited by Daesh, which had moved them into conflict zones, used them as human shields, and prevented escape. They were also being subjected to “relentless and unlawful attacks” by the US-led coalition.

There are fears that by failing to fully address the issue of civilian casualties, the MoD is not presenting the full picture of Britain’s campaign in Iraq and Syria

AS/MG