LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Tuesday it was authorizing spy planes and armed drones to fly surveillance missions over Syria “very shortly” in order to gather intelligence on Islamic State (IS) militants.
Britain announced the deployment after Turkey said on Monday it would allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters to reinforce fellow Kurds in the Syrian town of Kobani on Turkey’s border.
Michael Fallon, Britain’s defence minister, said both Reaper drones and Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft would fly over Syria as part of “efforts to protect our national security from the terrorist threat emanating from there.”
But in a written statement to parliament he stressed that Reapers would not be allowed to use their weapons in Syria, something he said would require “further permission”, meaning a vote in parliament.
Read more at Reuters
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