British Forces To Be In Iraq 'Well Into 2018'

British forces are likely to remain in Iraq "well into 2018", the Defence Secretary has said.

Sir Michael Fallon said the battle against Islamic State (Daesh) had "many months to run" and he expected RAF and Army trainers to continue their work "for some time".

As he updated MPs in the Commons, Sir Michael was asked what plans the Government had to conduct a new strategic defence and security review.

Former shadow minister Dan Jarvis said:

"Given the operations against Daesh are likely to be enduring for some time, and that since the last strategic defence and security review took place there's been a change to our national security context, a General Election and a referendum where Britain has decided to leave the European Union, can I ask the Secretary of State what plans the Government now have to conduct a strategic defence and security review?"

Sir Michael replied: "The campaign in Iraq is not over and has many months to run, and I expect British forces to be involved well into 2018 in Iraq, and of course the situation in Syria is even more complex.

"The work of the RAF and indeed of Army trainers is likely to continue for some time."

Sir Michael told MPs: "The last strategic defence review, of course, was only 18 months ago. The threats that it set out there from Russian aggression, from Daesh and other terrorism and from cyber, I think, remain the principal threats facing this country."

He joked: "Of course that review did not forecast the referendum or indeed the result of the referendum. I don't think we can blame defence intelligence for that - a lot of people didn't predict that event.

"But it was only 18 months ago and of course we will have a look and see whether any of it needs any kind of refresh."

Fight Against Islamic State Isn't Over Yet, Warns Chief Of Air Staff

The Chief of the Air Staff has praised the success of Op Shader, the international intervention against Islamic State but says there is still a lot to do to defeat the militants in Iraq and Syria.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier says the recent victory to push IS out of Mosul in Iraq is “one step along what is likely to be a long path” towards defeating the group.

He told Forces News that the action in Mosul had been a tremendous achievement that had taken huge amount of effort in the air and on the ground, which should be recognised. 

Asked if he thought Op Shader had been a success he said:

“Look where Daesh are now – on the back foot and driven into ever-smaller areas along the way…. you just have to look at the evidence to show that it is.”

When it came to protecting civilians on the ground he said he had been “utterly satisfied with the professionalism, the self-discipline of our crews – in fact the whole targeting process to minimise to the absolute best of our ability any risk to non-combatants.”

Sir Stephen said the mission, which the Royal Air Force joined almost three years ago, had evolved constantly and would continue to do so.

The ground offensive in Mosul has been supported from the air by coalition aircraft, including RAF Tornados and Typhoons based in Cyprus, and unmanned Reaper drones flying from a base in the Middle East.

The RAF is second only to the US in the air campaign, supporting the advance and carrying out daily airstrikes.