Mr Fallon said: “I can confirm that four British Tornados were in action after the vote last night attacking oil fields in eastern Syria – the Omar oil fields – from which the Daesh terrorists receive a huge part of their revenue”.
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MPs voted by 397 to 223 – a majority of 174 – in favour of extending British action against IS into its Syrian strongholds.
Obama’s remarks during an interview with CBS news came just days after the Pentagon announced it would send the troops to Iraq to help Kurdish peshmerga forces and conduct raids in Syria to combat the militant group. “Do we send in bombers, not totally aware of what all the consequences are going to be?”
Islamic State, also known as Isis, is a territorial movement that has declared conquests in both Syria and Iraq the foundation of its sacred “caliphate”, and will defend these areas against all comers.
“We must leave all arguments and disagreements behind and make one powerful fist, a single anti-terror front, which would work on the basis of worldwide law under the aegis of the United Nations”, Putin said.
Although the British vote adds little additional military capability to the coalition, it has had outsized political and diplomatic significance since last month’s attacks in Paris, as Europe’s other leading military power wrestled with a decision to join France in expanding its military action.
Lavrov did however welcome Britain joining air strikes in Syria, saying more universal efforts against Islamic State would be more effective. “Eight attacks were carried out, and early reports suggest that they were successful”, the statement said.
Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs it was a question of whether the United Kingdom should go after “the terrorists in their heartlands” or “sit back and wait for them to attack us”. U.S. and British special forces are on the ground providing training, and more are on their way.
Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan has denied the allegations.
Turkey shot down the Russian plane that had reportedly strayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings.
While French bombing in Syria appears to be accurate, Russian Federation has been accused of killing hundreds of civilians in its airstrikes – including children.
Sixty-six Labour members of parliament joined all but three members of the ruling Conservative party in supporting the airstrikes after a widely covered speech in favor of intervention by Labor’s shadow foreign secretary, Hilary Benn ended ten hours of debate in Parliament.
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“We must now confront this evil”.
