RAAF fighters have carried out at least two deadly air strikes against Islamic State militants, with Australian forces increasing their combat tempo over Iraq to pick up slack left by the diversion of US planes to Syria.
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The Australian Defence Force's Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral David Johnston, told reporters at a briefing in Canberra on Friday that the coalition's current air power could not entirely stop the militants moving heavy weapons around.
He also revealed that in the past week RAAF Super Hornets carried out a second air strike and confirmed for the first time that the Australian strikes had killed Islamic State fighters, though he refused to say how many.
Vice Admiral Johnston also refused to say how many strikes in total there had been – saying only that it was at least two.
He was speaking after reports came out of Iraq that Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, was gathering tanks, armoured vehicles and heavy artillery around a strategic town just west of Baghdad.
"There has been … ISIL's forces, it would appear, moving into that area right throughout the Western approaches to Baghdad, which we've known for some time has been a key approach corridor that they've been seeking to exploit," Vice Admiral Johnston said.
"There is air capability over Iraq but it's being dispersed over a range of areas, particularly because … the strikes back in Syria have been busy during the week, so the air apportionment is around providing the best effect all over the various two locations where the forces are operating.
"If that means at times, some (Islamic State) capabilities can move, then on occasions that occurs, but the ability to mass forces is where the limitation is, so if it's a one or a two that's different to being able to get a sizeable force together which clearly then becomes a higher priority target and attracts the resources associated with that."
He played down suggestions of any grave threat to the Iraqi capital, saying that Iraqi security forces were pushing back to the west in response to Islamic State movements.
The RAAF fighters have now flown 43 combat missions but appear only to have dropped bombs on a small number of those.
In the past week US fighters have increasingly been focussed on helping fend off Islamic State from the key northern Syrian town of Kobane.
Vice Admiral Johnston said the number of air combat missions had "surged" in the past week so that the US and other coalition partners could help beleaguered Kurdish fighters defending the town.
"The reason we have done that is to enable a continued presence over Iraq while permitting other coalition forces to intensify their efforts in Syria. We have been flying more missions than we ordinarily would so that the US and other coalition partners in particular can support particularly Kobane."
