On Wednesday, the British parliament authorized airstrikes against the Islamic State, and within hours RAF Tornado jets were dropping high precision Paveway bombs on ISIS-controlled oil fields in eastern Syria.
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The RAF carried out missions over Syria and Iraq overnight, hitting what the Ministry of Defence described as an Islamic State sniper team in Iraq but nothing in Syria.
There are already eight British jets in RAF Akrotiri, bombing targets in Iraq, but Britain can not start bombing in Syria if David Cameron fails to get the yes vote in Parliament.
The pilot and navigator sit in the cockpit of an RAF Tornado GR4 as they taxi it on the runway at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after returning to the base from carrying out some of the first British bombing runs over Syria.
A Ministry of Defense spokesman said the planes had conducted strikes in Syria and details about their targets would be provided later on Thursday.
Cameron said that he welcomed the strong support across Parliament with MPs from six different parties backing “this necessary action”.
Britain has dispatched two additional Tornados and six Typhoons to the region to take part in attacks.
Tornado bombers took off from the Royal Air Force Akrotiri air base in Cyprus just hours after British lawmakers voted 397 to 223 to support Cameron’s plan for airstrikes, a witness said.
Putin also accused Washington and its allies of turning Iraq, Syria and Libya into a “zone of chaos and anarchy threatening the entire world” by supporting change of regimes in those countries.
Yesterday Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told BBC2’s Newsnight that Britain’s military action in Syria would not be over in a matter of months. An impromptu Economist poll published Thursday shows that of those surveyed, 47 percent are against the air strikes, 42percent are in favor and 11 percent are undecided.
He defended his policy against critics who said the airstrikes were likely to be largely symbolic, achieving little militarily, without the addition of ground troops.
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“There are plenty more of these targets throughout eastern, northern Syria which we hope to be striking in the next few days and weeks”, Fallon said.
