UK kills 'IS' militants in Syria drone strike
September 7, 2015
British Prime Minister David Cameron told the country's parliament on Monday that a remotely piloted Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft had carried out the strike on the 'Islamic State' ('IS') stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria. It struck a vehicle in which British 'Islamic State' ('IS) members Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin were traveling, killing them alongside one unidentified person.
"There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop them," Cameron said, adding that no civilians were harmed.
He said it was the first time in modern times that a British military asset had been used to conduct a strike in a country it was not at war with. Britain's parliament was not consulted in advance of the attack. However, Cameron said the strike was "entirely lawful" and the attorney general had been consulted. He added that the threat made this act of "self-defense" necessary.
"Both Junaid Hussain and Reyaad Khan were British nationals based in Syria who were involved in actively recruiting ISIL sympathizers and seeking to orchestrate specific and barbaric attacks against the West, including directing a number of planned terrorist attacks here in Britain such as plots to attack high profile public commemorations," Cameron said, using another acronym for the 'IS' militant group, which has taken over a vast area of territory spanning parts of Syria and Iraq. There was no information to indicate what had happened to Junaid Hussain, the other British national cited by Cameron.
Military first for Britain
Until the attack, which was not part of United States-led coalition efforts against 'IS' in Syria, Britain had not participated in military actions as part of Syria's four-and-a-half-year war. But it has been involved in anti-'IS' bombing in Iraq and flies drones over Syria to gather intelligence.
Cameron, however, reiterated his promise to seek approval from parliament before joining coalition airstrikes in Syria.
On Monday, Cameron also announced that Britain would take in 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years from camps in countries neighboring Syria.
se/jil (dpa, AFP, AP, Reuters)