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Armed British Warplanes Flying 'Daily' Over Iraq
[AnNahar] Armed British warplanes are flying daily missions over Iraq and would launch air strikes if called in by local forces on the ground, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said Sunday.Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 combat jets have been flying from Britannia's RAF Akrotiri sovereign base on Cyprus loaded with Paveway IV laser-guided bombs. "They are on active service now," Fallon told Sky News television. "They are flying daily over the area where the fighting is and they are ready as part of the international force to be called in by the ground troops if they can help directly with some of the fighting." He said British surveillance aircraft were providing "very sophisticated" intelligence and there was "nothing tokenistic" about the RAF's involvement. British politicians on Friday voted overwhelmingly to join the US-led air strikes against Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... jihadists in northern Iraq following a formal request for help from the Iraqi government. He said the aim was to help the Iraqi government push back IS, which he said "needs to be defeated in Syria as well as Iraq". Six British Tornados have been based on Cyprus since last month, from where they have been conducting reconnaissance missions, but now they are bomb-laden and their role can include striking IS targets. Posted by: trailing wife 2014-09-29 |
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