London: Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) has released details of a series of strikes against Islamic State in Iraq, as Prime Minister David Cameron said he believed the UK should join France in bombing the terrorist group in Syria.
Two Tornado GR4 jets used bombs to destroy an armed vehicle and a stockpile of home-made explosives yesterday, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
Reaper drones also carried out strikes targeting a “large group of terrorists” at a weapons cache, officials said.
The strikes come as Cameron said he believed the UK should join France and other nations in bombing the IS in Syria too.
“I firmly support the action that [French] President Hollande has taken to strike ISIL in Syria and it is my firm conviction that Britain should do so too. Of course that will be a decision for Parliament to make,” he said.
In the latest update on the campaign in Iraq, the MoD said: “RAF aircraft flying as part of the coalition campaign against Isil [IS] have maintained intensive armed reconnaissance missions, striking a number of terrorist targets in the last few days.”
The RAF’s fleet of drones has also been involved in surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Syria, but it is not currently carrying out strikes there.
Cameron has said he will set out his case to MPs this week to expand the strikes to Syria, ahead of a vote expected before Christmas.