DefenceTalkWashington: A coalition air strike killed an Islamic State finance chief in Iraq last month, the US military said Thursday, hailing it as another scalp in its bid to shatter the extremists’ financial network. Abu Saleh was killed in late November, US military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said in a videoconference from Baghdad, calling him […]https://www.defencetalk.com/isis-finance-chief-killed-in-iraq-air-strike-us-66033/

DefenceTalkThe United States is prepared to deploy attack helicopters in support of an Iraqi offensive to retake the Islamic State-held city of Ramadi, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Wednesday. Carter told a US Senate hearing that the Iraqi army was beginning to move on the city in Iraq’s Anbar province, which fell to IS […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-ready-to-deploy-attack-helicopters-to-retake-iraqi-city-66030/

DefenceTalkBaghdad: Decades of irresponsible arms transfers to Iraq fueled the Islamic State group’s firepower and ability to carry out atrocities on a massive scale, Amnesty International said in a report published Tuesday. The London-based human rights watchdog called for tougher controls in order to put a stop to the alarming fallout from the proliferation of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/reckless-arms-transfers-to-iraq-fuelled-is-crimes-report-65998/

DefenceTalkWashington: The United States will increasingly rely on special operations troops to battle Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday, while calling on international powers to beef up their own efforts. Speaking to lawmakers in the House Armed Services Committee, the Pentagon chief said he was deploying a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-special-forces-to-fight-isis-in-iraq-syria-65953/

DefenceTalkA Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft has used its air‑to‑air refueling boom for the first time on operations while refueling a RAAF E-7A Wedgetail last week during a Coalition mission above Iraq. The air-to-air boom refuelling process involved two large aircraft, military versions of the Airbus A330 and Boeing 737-700, approaching […]https://www.defencetalk.com/raaf-kc-30a-refuels-e-7a-wedgetail-above-iraq-65691/

DefenceTalkThe US Air Force recently lost control of two armed Predator drones in separate incidents in Turkey and Iraq, a US military official said Wednesday. The Predators were both carrying air-to-surface Hellfire missiles when they crashed, but these were safely recovered along with the aircraft. In the first case on October 17, a Predator crew […]https://www.defencetalk.com/two-armed-us-predator-drones-crash-in-iraq-turkey-65677/

DefenceTalkOttawa: Canada’s prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau said Tuesday he told US President Barack Obama that Canadian fighter jets would withdraw from fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. But he gave no timeline. “About an hour ago I spoke with President Obama,” Trudeau told a press conference. While Canada remains “a strong member […]https://www.defencetalk.com/canada-withdrawing-fighter-jets-from-iraq-syria-trudeau-obama-65671/

DefenceTalkAustralian aircraft have completed their first operation in Syria, defence officials said Saturday, just days after Canberra extended the mission from Iraq to better fight Islamic State jihadists. “The Australian Air Task Group completed its first operational mission in Syria overnight, returning to base in the Middle East without incident,” the defence department said in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/australian-aircraft-complete-first-mission-in-syria-65383/

DefenceTalkTurkish forces crossed into northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish militants on Tuesday after the deadliest rebel attacks in years left dozens dead as the decades-long conflict escalated. Thirteen Turkish police were killed on Tuesday in a new attack by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants as violence in the east threatened to spiral out of control. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkish-forces-enter-northern-iraq-as-pkk-violence-spirals-65331/

DefenceTalkAnkara: Turkish warplanes have for the first time joined raids by the US-led coalition against Islamic State positions in Syria, the foreign ministry said Saturday, after Washington urged Ankara to play a full role in the battle against the jihadists. “Our fighter planes … along with planes from the coalition yesterday (Friday) evening began joint […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkish-planes-join-anti-is-coalition-in-syria-raid-for-first-time-65207/