ISIS Dawn: Special Forces War in Syria & Iraq

In the first few moments of the attack, we decamped our vehicles to get our eyes on where the attack was coming from. It was from our five o’clock position - we could hear the unmistakable noise of the 12.7mm rounds fleeing from a DShK and impacting around us. Some rounds ricocheting back into the air, these rounds would tear through, both our body armour and Toyota 4x4s. It was not hard to work out where the rounds were coming from though - we just had to follow the tracer rounds back to where they were spewing out from, creating bright orange flashes against the inky black sky. ISIS were a formidable foe one where the U.S Special Forces have fought some of their bloodiest battles since Vietnam on the streets of Ramadi and Fallujah. Even losing a Delta operator during a daring raid to free 70 Iraqi hostages in October 2015.

Islamic State or ISIS adheres to a doctrine of war without any limits or constraints. They do not believe in arbitration or compromise when it comes to settling disputes. Islamic State has become synonymous with its vicious behaviour. Making use of the latest technology such as drones and quad bikes, blended with Special Forces traditional skills to continue the fight against extremism and rescue a beleaguered local populace. As part of Task Force Black the SAS, SBS, Delta Force and SEAL team six have taken on a dangerous adversary. ISIS Dawn gives the background to ISIS as well as some gripping accounts of the Special Forces battle against this new and tenacious adversary.