Category: Operation SHADER

Operation SHADER is the operational code name given to British military operations undertaken as part of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), aka ISIS, Islamic State, Daesh. The operation began in Iraq on 26 September 2014 in response to a formal request from the Iraqi government. The intervention extended to Syria in October 2014, with the Royal Air Force mandated to conduct surveillance flights over the country. On 2 December 2015, the British Government approved RAF airstrikes against ISIL in Syria. Since then, the RAF has operated at its highest level in 25 years in a single theatre of operation: as of June 2016, over 1,000 personnel were engaged, with the RAF having flown more than 2,200 sorties, including approximately 900 airstrikes that have resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,000 ISIL fighters. Operation Shader also involves the Royal Navy, the British Army and special forces.