US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters deployed to Iraq have engaged Islamic State targets for the first time since October 2014, the Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced on 13 June.
An unknown number of Apaches have been in Iraq since at least October 2014, when then chairman of the joint chief of staff General Martin Demspey said they had been used to defend Baghdad. They have not seen action since then, but the US military listed them in April as one of several ‘enablers’ that it would use to support Iraqi forces.
In a briefing on 15 June, Colonel Christopher Garver, the spokesman for Operation ‘Inherent Resolve’, said the Apaches used Hellfire missiles to destroy a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) near Al-Qayyarah in Ninawa province early on 13 June.
“The Apaches provide another platform with significant capabilities into the already potent mix of aircraft and weapons systems the coalition is employing to defeat Daesh [the Islamic State],” he said.
Al-Qayyarah is the current objective of the Iraqi forces pushing towards the Islamic State-held city of Mosul 60 km to the north.
Earlier in June, the Iraqi MoD announced that the 37th Brigade of the 9th Armoured Division is to support the operation. It has also released photographs showing M1A1 tanks of the division’s 35th Brigade also heading north.
The Iraqi Ministry of Defence announced on 14 June that the 37th Brigade had assisted the 71st Brigade of the 15th Infantry Division in taking control of villages on the other side of the Tigris.
Col Garver said the US-led coalition had carried out 50 airstrikes in support of the offensive over the previous week. “Resistance from Daesh fighters has been generally moderate, consisting of small-arms fire, indirect fire, and VBIED use,” he said.
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