RAF brings Middle East ops to an end

The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) has ended its Middle East operations, bringing the curtain down on almost 19 years of continuous operations in the region following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Six Panavia Tornado GR.4 strike aircraft from 13 Squadron and three BAC VC10 tanker/transport aircraft from 101 Squadron arrived back at RAF Marham and Brize Norton respectively on 3 June, marking the end of the RAF's commitment over Iraq.

During this mission, the RAF has switched between the full-scale combat operations of Operation 'Granby' (the UK's contribution to the First Gulf War) to 12 years of air policing, as part of Operation 'Southern Watch' (Operation 'Jural' in the UK) and Operation 'Northern Watch' (Operation 'Warden'), and back to combat operations with Operation 'Telic' and the US-led invasion of 2003.