Deployed in Iraq since September 2016 alongside the anti-jihadist coalition, the French gunners have "completed their mission" and their disengagement will soon be effective.

The French artillery group deployed on the Iraqi-Syrian border in support of operations against the Islamic State (IS) group "has completed its mission," said Thursday the spokesman of the French General Staff. "The Wagram Task Force has completed its mission" conducted as part of the international anti-IS coalition, and "its disengagement will be public when it becomes effective," said Colonel Patrik Steiger at a press briefing.

Resumption of Mosul, support for MSDS ...

This group of artillery armed with three Caesar guns, with a range of 40 kilometers, had been deployed in Iraq since September 2016. French gunners participated in the recovery of the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Qayarah Forward Base. They then settled along the Iraqi-Syrian border, near the Iraqi city of al-Qaim, in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces (FDS) engaged on the ground against IS, who defeated the Israeli forces. March of the last pocket of the "caliphate" territorial.

Air support

Now devoid of artillery, Operation Chammal (French part of the operation led by the international anti-IS coalition) continues to provide air support to the SDS as part of securing the average Euphrates Valley. said Colonel Steiger. French aircraft continue to carry out surveillance and intelligence missions in Iraq and Syria, with the participation of the aircraft of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, currently deployed in the eastern Mediterranean. Since the launch of Operation Chammal, the French have fired more than 18,000 shells and fired 1,500 airstrikes in support of Allied troops engaged on the ground against the jihadists, according to a report in early February.