Three weeks ago, on June 10, a British Reaper drone began tracking a motorcycle in north-western Syria near the border with Turkey as it began to be ridden by a someone described by British intelligence as “a known member” of ISIS. The individual, who had apparently been monitored by the drone “for some time” was tracked and killed by a Hellfire missile fired by the drone a short while later.
Aftermath of UK drone strike in NW Syria, Jun 10 2025 : Image credit : The White Helmets
Local reports from the ground said the man was killed in the blast, with another person also injured and taken to hospital. This was the second British drone strike in north-west Syria this year and the only reason we know about it was a MoD spokesperson boasted about it to The Sun this weekend.
A forgotten, fitful war
For most, the US/UK war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been virtually forgotten Other awful conflicts – in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan – have taken our attention over the past two years, not to mention the more recent unlawful Israeli and the US bombing of Iran. And in many ways this is understandable. Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’ attack followed by Israel’s on-going genocidal war on Gaza has stunned the world.
Yet, it should still matter – particular to British public, media and parliamentarians – that British forces continue to engage in a seemingly never ending, fitful war in Syria and Iraq.
MoD secrecy
In addition, the war gets little attention because the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has decided it will no longer talk about ongoing UK military operations. After a decade of responding to our Freedom of Information (FoI) requests on the UK’s use of Reaper drones, for example, the MoD abruptly began to refuse them at the beginning of 2023 arguing that the changed global situation mean that oversight and transparency had to be curbed. Other organisations, journalists and parliamentary committees too have seen a decline in transparency from the MoD, both about UK military operations but also about UK military developments in general.
While MoD has argued that the ‘geopolitical situation’ means they have to be much more ‘circumspect’, the significant drop in the ability of the media, parliament and the public to scrutinise the MoD and hold the armed forces to account will no doubt be welcomed by them for a variety of reasons.
Wither Operation Shader?
Meanwhile, it is virtually impossible to know what British forces are actually doing in Syria and Iraq under Operation Shader – the UK mission to defeat ISIS, begun in 2014 – except for very occasional self-serving news stories given to supportive press like this weekend. The June 10 drone strike was the second British drone strike (that we know about) in Syria this year – the previous took place in February.
In January 2024, the US agreed to begin talks on the withdrawal of US/Coalition forces (Inherent Resolve is the official name of the US operation) from Iraq, five years after the territorial defeat of ISIS in March 2019. In September 2024, the US Coalition agreed that forces would leave Iraq by September 2025 and Syria by September 2026.
The UK issued a statement supporting the move and saying that the UK would “transition to a new security and defence partnership with Iraq”, with no mention of Syria. What this means in practise for UK forces in the region is not at all clear. It seems that UK air and drone operations are continuing on a daily basis but there is no confirmation or details.
In April 2024, UK Typhoon aircraft deployed on Operation Shader took part in operation to defend Israel from Iranian counter-attacks, shooting down three missiles, with Op Shader forces also participating in efforts to stop Iran counter-attacking Israel in October 2024.
It also goes without saying the situation in Syria has changed remarkably since September 2024 with the fall of the al-Assad regime in December 2024 and the formation of a new government gaining increased recognition.
Last August we published Operation without End, a report examining a decade of UK military operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and calling for the operation to be brought to an end. A year on, its seems that call needs to made yet again.
