(Iraq) With the barbaric murder of James Foley and the subsequent revealing that a US military operation to find and release ISIS hostages from inside Syria ended up with no hostages being found, more information has been released about that operation and it was a lot bigger than most people realised.
Rather than a low key mission with very few assets on the ground using surprise and stealth in which to get the job done, the raid used numerous troops (at least several dozen) using whisper quiet helicopters in which to infiltrate into location and, once on the ground, they were supported from above by, most likely, a AC-130W Stinger II, which as its main armament sports 30mm GAU-23/A cannon, Griffin missiles and the small diameter bomb.
Once on the ground in the Syrian city of Raqqah, they found out that the hostages weren't there, however, over 100 ISIS terrorists were, so they left after taking out at least 15 of the terrorists. While the US government won't elaborate on the mission, a Syrian in the area claims it transpired on the 3rd of July 14.
He also mentioned:
Rather than a low key mission with very few assets on the ground using surprise and stealth in which to get the job done, the raid used numerous troops (at least several dozen) using whisper quiet helicopters in which to infiltrate into location and, once on the ground, they were supported from above by, most likely, a AC-130W Stinger II, which as its main armament sports 30mm GAU-23/A cannon, Griffin missiles and the small diameter bomb.
Once on the ground in the Syrian city of Raqqah, they found out that the hostages weren't there, however, over 100 ISIS terrorists were, so they left after taking out at least 15 of the terrorists. While the US government won't elaborate on the mission, a Syrian in the area claims it transpired on the 3rd of July 14.
He also mentioned:
The raid was carried out by soldiers riding in "silent helicopters" who spoke a foreign language.Silent helicopters speaks volumes about the equipment used. Quite possibly the highly modified Black Hawk helicopters, similar to those used in the Bin Laden raid. The sad part to this failed rescue mission is, somebody claims to have identified the area of the beheading as the very same city.
