The air strike, as confirmed by Britain’s secretary of defence Michael Fallon, focused on six targets in the Omar oil field under ISIS control.
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Fallon said the Ministry of Defence would be assessing the damage done by the bombing later, but the aim was to strike “a very real blow on the oil and revenue on which Daesh depends”.
Four RAF Tornado jets started the operation as soon as the 10-hour Commons debate was over.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Syria’s civil war would not be resolved by military action alone but that the strikes would “degrade” IS.
Now that Britain has made a decision to expand airstrikes that it previously conducted only in Iraq, the spotlight is on the German Parliament, which also is expected to approve greater military commitment against the terror group.
France and the United States are already bombing Islamist militants in Syria, while Russian Federation has bombed mainly other rebels, according to conflict monitors and Western officials, in an intervention launched on September 30 to bolster its ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In November of this year, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on member states to take “all necessary measures…to prevent and suppress terrorist acts” committed by ISIS, in compliance with global law and the United Nations Charter. “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.
David Cameron has said the move would be part of a long-running campaign in the region: “It is complex and it is hard what we are asking our pilots to do, and our thoughts should be with them and their families as they commence this important work”.
Sixty-six Labour MPs ignored pleas by their leader Jeremy Corbyn to oppose further military action and voted for air strikes helping to deliver a Government majority of 174. 66 Labour MPs backed the Conservative government in defiance of the party leader.
Before the vote, Mr Afriyie said: “We cannot expect the rest of the world to defeat Daesh (IS) on our behalf without doing what we can to assist as part of an global coalition force”.
Cameron has pledged that Britain joining air strikes on Syria will be matched by a major diplomatic push to resolve the crisis.
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Sir Oliver said: “Our allies want RAF precision bombing because it reduces civilian casualties, as in Iraq where there have been none, but where ISIL have lost a third of their territory”.
