Using military and civilian technology to banish the troops of Islamic State from Raqqa, Syria

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDL) were fighting against Islamic State in Raqqa and retook the town October 2017. During the Raqqa campaign, the Kurdish-dominated SDL was supported by US Special Forces and US Air Force. 

Interoperability Through a Simple, Shared Application

One of the main means for interoperability was the US produced smartphone application that provided SDL land troops services for navigation in the city, coordination of their strikes and ordering air strikes. A simple app was available to all SDF fighters, and they were able to orient themselves around the city, and when engaging the enemy, even untrained men were able to define the target coordinates and order close air support.

Demolished Raqqa © Delil Souleiman / AFP / Getty

As the urban area of Raqqa was modified by the defenders and destroyed by the attackers, it becomes challenging to navigate or locate oneself. The map used in the application was partially captured from the enemy, patched and updated with air pictures. The situational awareness provided through the app-enabled SDL troops to know where the other friendly troops located, where the enemy has been sighted, define safe places to manoeuvre through and identify routes that enemy suicide vehicles may approach.

Shared Situational Awareness and Air Domination Enabled the Operational Superiority

The way that Raqqa was taken was enabled by surrounding the city and by sharing their location, the SDL troops were able to launch coordinated strikes from each direction. 

Map of the SDF advances and control situations in Raqqa city, during the battle

The Enemy was not able to foresee their manoeuvre, and furthermore, all enemy locations targeted were engaged from the air. There was continuous coverage of drones reconnoitring over the city and F-16 jets circling on-call to take down all verified targets. Additionally, a spy network within the city provided confirmations to observed target data. The enemy locations, command and control posts, logistics points and barracks were constantly being hit. The Islamic State troops were denied the ability to move men around and have a coherent defence.

Smart Device Intelligence

The Islamic State troops were using smartphones and laptops also to manage information and command their troops. The US has been capturing smartphones and laptops systematically from ISIL and recovered the data from them. Smartphones, for example, hold massive amounts of information critical to intelligence analysts, including photos, telephone numbers, GPS data and Internet searches. The Users generally assume the device will not be compromised and don’t take precautions to protect the data.

Islamic State uses the app - called Nasher - to catalogue written reports, radio news, and video files. © Mirror 6 August 2015

The data include tens of thousands of personnel records on foreign fighters and their families with dates of birth, aliases, phone numbers, jobs and other valuable intelligence. The Islamic State run their governance with smartphones and laptop. Hence there is information on developing drones, chemical weapons, financing and propaganda operations. Some leaders were also planning to run their organisation with their smartphones after fleeing from Syria and establishing cells in other parts of the world.

References

Battle of Raqqa, 2017; Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Raqqa_(2017)

Michaels, Jim (2018): How the US is using terrorists’ smartphones and laptops to defeat them, USA Today, January 31, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/31/smartphones-computers-terrorists-intelligence-agency-united-states/1079982001/

Parsons, Jeff (2015): Hidden ISIS android app lets terrorists spread news and recruit members directly through their smartphones, Mirror, August 6, 2015. Retrieved from: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/hidden-isis-android-app-lets-6203483

Press Association (2017): App used in battle against Islamic State was a game changer. Daily Mail Online, 18 February 2018. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-5405555/App-used-battles-against-Islamic-State-game-changer.html

Taylor, Alan (2017): The Battle of Raqqa, The Atlantic, October 12, 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/10/the-battle-for-raqqa/542778/