A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle has delivered leaflets over ISIS insurgents in Syria.
On Mar. 16, a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet deployed in the Gulf region has conducted an unusual mission: it has dropped some 60,000 leaflets over Raqqa region, the ISIS stronghold in Syria.
The leaflet depicts a gruesome drawing, showing 7 men being lined up for a meat grinder (labelled “Daesh”) by a “Daesh Recruiting Office” (Daesh is the Arabic acronym for ISIS).
The leaflets were released by means of a PDU-5B leaflet canister.
#الرقة_تذبح_بصمت #Raqqa #Syria #ISIS # Pamphlets dropped in Raqqa by International Coalition airplanes pic.twitter.com/GgqHCXRjBJ
— Abu Ibrahim Raqqawi (@raqqa_mcr) 26 Marzo 2015
The purpose of the leaflet is to support PSYOPS (Psychological Operations) in Syria. The message of the leaflet is clear: those recruited by ISIS will find themselves in a meat grinder.
Image credit: U.S. DoD
During 2011 Air War in Libya, U.S. Air Force EC-130s broadcast radio messages to the Libyan military, to persuade them to return to their families before it was too late, whereas Italian C-130J aircraft dropped leaflets over Tripoli to counter Gaddafi’s regime propaganda in Libya’s capital city.
Air drop of leaflets in support of Information Operations have been conducted by the U.S. Army above Helmand province, Afghanistan, using U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft to deliver information to areas of Helmand province unreachable by conventional communication.
Leaflets have been also air dropped by Syrian Arab Air Force Mil Mi-8 helicopters over Aleppo in August 2012 to urge rebels to surrender to the Syrian Army.
Israeli A-4 dropped leaflets over Gaza in the past as well.
