The Independent reported that the Al-Baath newspaper – which reportedly answers to President Bashar Assad’s own party – said Prime Minister David Cameron was running a “PR campaign” in support of a “US-led show in violation of the United Nations charter”.
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“RAF Tornadoes have just returned from their first offensive operation over Syria and have conducted strikes”, a spokesman for Britain’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) said early Thursday to CNN.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon confirmed this morning that four British Tornados were in action after the vote last night attacking the Omar oil fields, from which the IS terrorists, also know as Daesh, receive a huge part of their revenue.
Asked about ISIS sympathizers being investigated across the country, Obama said the American people “should feel confident that we’re going to be able to defend ourselves and make sure that we have a good holiday season and go about our lives”.
Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Cameron said high-precision, laser-guided Brimstone missiles attached to the Tornado GR4 bombers would help to make a real difference by hitting the ISIL capital of Raqqa and its oil-trading business.
In a statement, the defense ministry said it targeted the oilfields because they are the “mainstay of Daesh’s [the Islamic State’s] financial income”.
British forces were gearing up for further attacks against the militants, with more fighter jets arriving at RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus from where the bombing missions are carried out. Both France and the USA urged Britain to join the air campaign in Syria, and Cameron said Britain shouldn’t let its allies down.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were also attending the meeting. “It is now time for us to do our bit in Syria”, Benn said in his impassioned speech, which drew applause from lawmakers across the House of Commons.
Some view Western intervention in Iraq and Libya as a failure that sowed chaos across the region and the news of the vote was met by howls of disgust by dozens of anti-war protesters demonstrating outside parliament.
A wide range of MPs including main opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke out against air strikes, condemning Mr Cameron’s “ill thought-out rush to war” and saying his proposals “simply do not stack up”.
But the November 13 attacks on Paris that killed 130 people and were claimed by Islamic State have stiffened the resolve of many lawmakers. A third of those who voted were not ready to take action just yet.
They will be joined by six Typhoon jets, which took off from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, and two more Tornado fighters, which took off from RAF Marham in southeast England.
The Commons voted 397 to 223 in support of the motion with 66 Labour Members of Parliament voting in support, and seven Conservatives voting against it.
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Russia, which has been bombing ISIS since the end of September, has welcomed Britain’s decision to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria and has called for a “broader coalition” to wipe out the terrorists.
