Britain launched airstrikes in Syria hours after its parliament voted in favor of an aerial campaign against the Islamic State group in the Middle Eastern country, the Associated Press (AP) reported late Wednesday.
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Cameron said the more than 4-year-old Syrian civil war could not be resolved by military action alone, but that the strikes would “degrade” ISIS, a militant Islamist group which has declared a caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed this morning that RAF Tornado jets had carried out the first British bombing runs over Syria.
“This strikes a very real blow at the oil and the revenue on which the Daesh terrorists depend”, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC.
“Overnight, RAF Tornado GR4s, supported by a Voyager air refuelling tanker and a Reaper, and operating in conjunction with other coalition aircraft, employed Paveway IV guided bombs to conduct strikes against six targets within the extensive oilfield at Omar, 35 miles inside Syria’s eastern border with Iraq”, it said.
The bombing raid was carried out within hours of a vote by British MPs, in the Houses of Parliament, which produced an overwhelming verdict in favour of the action.
In fact, the Dual-mode Brimstone missile our allies want us to deploy, was developed in Stevenage and is manufactured near Bolton.
One RAF captain said he was “absolutely confident” that there will be no civilian casualties.
In a statement, Stop the War Coalition spokespeople Andrew Murray and Lindsey German said: “There is no good case for British airstrikes in a war which is already seeing the two major military powers, the US and Russian Federation, bombing Syria”.
“By extending RAF offensive operations into Syria, our aircraft are now able to help dismantle the means by which Daesh plan, direct and sustain their campaign of terror”.
During the debate, the best received speech came from Labour foreign-affairs spokesman Hilary Benn, ending the debate by taking the opposite side of the argument from his leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a career-long opponent of military interventions.
“We are doubling our strike force”.
A total of 66 opposition Labour Party MPs voted in favour with the government.
Prime Minister David Cameron said MPs took the “right decision to keep the United Kingdom safe”.
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Wednesday’s action means the nation’s Royal Air Force could begin bombing runs over Syria in the near future.
