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U.K. joins airstrikes in Syria against ISIS

03 December 2015 11:41 (UTC +04:00)

“Four British Tornados were in action after the vote last night attacking oil fields in Eastern Syria,” British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC.

Last night’s strikes took place 35 miles inside Syria’s eastern border with Iraq, the Defense Ministry said.

The Tornado jets flew alongside allied planes and were refueled inflight by a RAF Voyager airborne tanker plane. A Reaper drone was also involved. The strike package attacked six targets with laser-guided Paveway IV bombs, the ministry said.

“The Omar oil field is one of the largest and most important to Daesh’s financial operations, and represents over 10% of their potential income from oil,” the Defense Ministry said. Daesh is another term for Islamic State.

The ministry said “carefully selected elements of the oil field infrastructure were targeted, ensuring the strikes will have a significant impact on Daesh’s ability to extract the oil to fund their terrorism.”