Military Briefing: Iraq and Syria

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On Monday, I attended an update on the UK's military involvement over Iraq and Syria from the Secretary of State for Defence and the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff.

The meeting, held at the Ministry of Defence, was an opportunity for MPs from all political parties to hear about the role the UK is playing and receive a report on the advances which have been made against ISIL forces. The following status and intents are known and do not discuss specific military involvement.

Iraq:

The Secretary of State, Michael Fallon, opened by explaining that when the UK first provided air coverage against ISIL forces, the regime was only 2hrs drive from Baghdad. Now ISIL is on the cusp of being pushed out of Iraq. As a result of the counter-offensive, 25,000 ISIL fighters have been killed and the fundamentalists hold less than 10% of Iraq's land mass. This action has led to 2m people being liberated from ISIL control.

UK aircraft have delivered 1,200 air strikes. This is more than any other force outside the US. The UK has also helped with the training of more than 30,000 Iraqi military personnel. Looking specifically at the East of Iraq, 75% of land is now freed. The chief aim is to free the city of Mosel, which remains the largest centre to remain under ISIL control.

Syria:

The UK's focus is on nerve-centre of Raqqah. This is where ISIL's plots on European soil are being forged. The flow of foreign recruits to ISIL, from the UK and other countries, has fallen. The UK's air capabilities are supporting the free-Syrian forces to capture terrain but the situation is made complicated by the actions of Russia and the Assad-led forces.

There is an expectation that ISIL we seek to orchestrate more terrorist attacks in the West as it loses ground in Iraq and Syria. To discuss this threat, 14 defence ministers recently met in London with an aim to reduce the likelihood.

The Secretary of State and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff ended by confirming that the fight against ISIL remains the Number One priority for the Ministry of Defence this year.