Fallon was speaking during a visit to the British airbase in Cyprus.
Advertisement
The U.S.-led coalition carried out 26 air strikes against Islamic State militants on Thursday, targeting oil production in Syria and supporting the Iraqi effort to retake the city of Ramadi, the military said in a statement on Friday.
RAF Tornado fighter jets had already flown an armed patrol over the east of the country “gathering intelligence on terrorist activity”, the Ministry of Defence said.
Michael Fallon says the four jets from the British base in Cyprus bombed wellheads at the Omar oilfield in eastern Syria.
The ministry said an unmanned Reaper drone also destroyed an IS truck-bomb south of Sinjar.
While visiting RAF Akrotiri on 5 December, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that the strikes were a “pretty impressive achievement”.
Since coalition air operations began previous year, the RAF base at Akrotiri has been home to extensive air capabilities, including Tornado GR4s, Voyager air-to-air refueling aircraft, C130 transport aircraft, and Sentinel surveillance aircraft, according to the MoD statement.
Advertisement
Assad said in an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times that IS can not be defeated with airstrikes alone unless there is coordination with forces on the ground. “It’s not what we do that they oppose, it’s what we are”.
