SAS Sniper Takes Out ISIS Command Post

06.01.2016

A Special Air Service (SAS) sniper has used a .50 cal rifle to take out a group of ISIS fighters inside a building in Iraq.^{[1, 2]}

The SAS soldier was part of a team advising Iraqi forces operating in the city of Ramadi. When a group of ISIS personnel were located on the top floor of a building that also housed civilians, it was decided to use a sniper rifle to engage them, rather than with an air strike or artillery barrage.

According to the Telegraph and Daily Star, the SAS sniper used a L82A1 Barret rifle for the attack. The Barret is a semi-automatic anti-material rifle chambered for .50 BMG (12.7x99mm) rounds which are fed from a 10-round magazine.

The British sniper situated himself inside a building about a 1km away from the ISIS position and fired multiple shots into the enemy command post, the .50 rounds punching through the walls and eliminating multiple enemy fighters.

This is not the first story of SAS marksmanship in Iraq. A newspaper report from October 2014 tells of an SAS team using another .50 rifle, this time the bolt-action AW50F, to take out an ISIS vehicle convoy. Also, from August last year, the Express ran a story on an SAS sniper saving a family from ISIS fighters in Syria.^[3]

A Royal Marine fires a L82A1 Barret during a training operation in the United States. Other .50 cal sniper weapons employed by UK forces includ the L121A1 (AW50F), a bolt-action sniper rifle. The weapons fire a selection of devastating .50 BMG rounds including armour-piercing(AP) and AP/high explosive/incendiary.

Image by LA(PHOT) ROB HARDING © UK MOD / Crown Copyright 2001 used under MOD News Licence

Former US Delta Force operator has some fun firing the .50 BMG Raufoss armour-piercing/high explosive/incendiary round. The Raufoss round is in common use with special operations snipers including those in the SAS and SBS.

This action by British Special Forces in Iraq is just the latest of several in recent days. The Telegraph goes on to report that 'several dozen' SAS troops are advising Iraq forces around Ramadi. These include 6 officers led by a Royal Artillery major who act as forward air controllers, coordinating air strikes in support of Iraqi ground forces. They are said to have hit numerous targets, including an ISIS bomb-laden truck which was taken out on Boxing Day.

More info / further reading

• 1. SAS sniper 'kills Isil suicide bombers from a kilometre'
  (the Telegraph)
  
  
• 2. SAS hero takes out ISIS fighters from 1km away
  (the Daily Star)
  
  
• 3. Hero SAS sniper saves father and eight-year-old son...
  (the Express)
  
  

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