UK warplanes strike Daesh within hours of Syria vote

LONDON

British warplanes dropped bombs on Daesh-controlled oil fields in eastern Syria hours after lawmakers approved airstrikes in the country, the Ministry of Defense said Thursday.

The Royal Air Force campaign launched early Thursday morning was designed to cut off Daesh’s revenue sources, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said.

Four Tornado jets took off from Britain’s Akrotiri air base in Cyprus less than two hours after the House of Commons overwhelmingly endorsed government plans for strikes.

“They carried out strikes in the Omar oil fields of eastern Syria, tackling oil well heads,” Fallon told BBC radio.

“It is oil that the Daesh terrorists derive most of their revenue from and it’s very important to continue to cut it off.”

On Wednesday evening, lawmakers approved air strikes by a margin of 397 votes to 223 following a debate that lasted 11 hours and saw 106 parliamentarians speak. The unexpectedly large majority saw 66 opposition Labour Party lawmakers vote with the government.

Fallon dismissed claims by U.S. Senator John McCain that the British contribution was “token” and would have limited value.

“They certainly make a difference,” Fallon said. “Of the precision strike aircraft available to the coalition, the British Tornados make up about a third and we have about a quarter of the unmanned aircraft.

“I can also tell you that today we are doubling our strike force, the additional eight aircraft being sent to Akrotiri… two more Tornados, six Typhoons.

“These are the aircraft that the coalition have been asking for to help strike these targets in Syria as well as Iraq because of the skill of our pilots and crews but also because of the precision strike weapons that they have.”

Britain has been carrying out airstrikes against Daesh in Iraq since last year and its planes have been involved in reconnaissance over Syria.

U.S. President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande both welcomed Britain’s involvement.

A statement from the Elysee Palace said: “The President of the Republic salutes the first British air operations over Syria this morning after yesterday’s vote obtained a large majority in parliament.

“After the decision of the German Council of Ministers, which needs to be confirmed by the Bundestag, it [the British intervention] is a new response to the call for European solidarity that the president had launched on Nov. 16.”

On Tuesday, the German government agreed to send Tornado reconnaissance aircraft, a naval frigate and a 1,200-strong force to assist the fight against Daesh. The lower house of parliament is expected to vote on the deployment by the end of the week.

In Washington, Obama described the U.K. as “one of our most valued partners in fighting ISIL [Daesh]”.

In a statement, he added: “We look forward to having British forces flying with the coalition over Syria and will work to integrate them into our Coalition Air Tasking Orders as quickly as possible.”

U.K. opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said Prime Minister David Cameron’s case as “not convincing, lacking either credible ground troops or a plan for a diplomatic settlement”.