International
UK joins pounding of ISIS in Syria
Hours after British parliament vetted the use of military force against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levante (ISIL) group in Syria, British warplanes carried out airstrikes against Islamic State group targets in the war torn country.
Four Royal Air Force Tornados took off from a British air base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, shortly after the 397-223 vote by lawmakers in the House of Commons.
A Ministry of Defense spokesman (who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with British policy for government spokespeople) said that the planes had conducted strikes in Syria, and details about their targets would be provided later Thursday.
Read also: UK MPs disagree over ISIL offensive
Since 2014, the RAF has been launching strikes against IS targets in Iraq and the decision to expand the campaign to Syria came after an emotional ten and a half-hour debate in which Prime Minister David Cameron said that Britain must strike the militants in their heartland and not “sit back and wait for them to attack us.”
Opponents argued that Britain’s entry into Syria’s crowded airspace would make little difference, and said Cameron’s military plan was based on wishful thinking that overlooked the messy reality of the Syrian civil war.
Cameron has long wanted to target IS in Syria, but had been unsure of getting majority support in the House of Commons until now. He suffered an embarrassing defeat in 2013 when lawmakers rejected a motion backing attacks on the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
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