Opération Chammal

Opération Chammal
Part of the military intervention against ISIL
French Dassault Rafale of Squadron 11F prepares to land on USS Carl Vinson. Carl Vinson is deployed as part of maritime security operations and strike operations in Iraq and Syria.
Date 19 September 2014 – ongoing (2 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and 5 days) Location Iraq, Syria, Libya Status Ongoing French airstrikes on ISIL in Iraq and Syria ISIL ground attacks on French special forces repelled
Belligerents
France	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Commanders and leaders
François Hollande Jean-Yves Le Drian Pierre de Villiers André Lanata	Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Ala al-Afri † Abu Ali al-Anbari † Abu Suleiman al-Naser † Abu Ali al-Anbari † Abu Omar al-Shishani † Abu Waheeb †
Units involved
French Air Force French Navy	Military of ISIL
Strength
1 Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (FS Charles de Gaulle) 2 Air Defence frigate (FS Jean Bart, and FS Chevalier Paul) 30 Dassault Rafale Fighters 6 Mirage 2000D Fighter-bombers 9 Super-Étendard Strike fighters (until 2016) 1 E-2 Hawkeye 1 Breguet Atlantic 1 E3F AWACS 3,200 Soldiers and Special Forces	Between 9,000 to 18,000 (U.S. intelligence estimate, January 2015) Between 20,000 to 31,500 (CIA estimate, September 2014)
Casualties and losses
1 civilian killed in Algeria 2 French soldiers wounded	1,000+ ISIL terrorists killed 1 depot destroyed

Ongoing

Opération Chammal is the name of the French military operation which is currently ongoing in Iraq and Syria in an attempt to contain the expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to support the Iraqi Army. Its name comes from the Shamal (Chammal in French), a northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states.

Airstrikes over Iraq started 19 September 2014, airstrikes over Syria started by the end of September 2015. The French operation is limited to airstrikes; French president François Hollande has reiterated that no ground troops would be used in the conflict. Additionally, the French frigate Jean Bart has joined the United States Navy's Commander Task Force 50 (CTF 50) as an escort.

On 14 November 2015, ISIL claimed that the attacks that took place in Paris the previous day were retaliation for Opération Chammal. In response, French forces increased their attacks against ISIL in Syria.

On 10 June 2014, the terrorist group of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and several other Sunni insurgents took control of the second-most populous city of Iraq, Mosul. After fighting the Iraqi Army, ISIL seized cities and committed massacres and other atrocities.

ISIL committed mass murder and other atrocities against the Assyrians, as well as the Yazidis. ISIL also carried out the Camp Speicher massacre in June 2014, killing thousands of people. Until August, ISIL had controlled almost one-third of Iraq.

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Wikipedia