Britain's Ministry of Defence announced on Tuesday that it had launched its first drone strikes in Iraq against Islamic State (IS) militants this weekend.
An RAF Reaper fired a Hellfire missile at IS militants who were reportedly laying improvised explosive devices in Bayji, north of Baghdad.
The MoD said,
The BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Beale commented,
An RAF Reaper fired a Hellfire missile at IS militants who were reportedly laying improvised explosive devices in Bayji, north of Baghdad.
The MoD said,
"A series of coalition missions were conducted near Bayji, north of Baghdad, where ISIL terrorists were laying improvised explosive devices.”Britain last month announced that it has authorised the use of spy planes and armed drones to fly surveillance missions over Syria.
"UK Reaper continued to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assistance to coalition aircraft which enabled them to conduct further strikes.”
The BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Beale commented,
"The MoD are still not saying how many Reapers have been redeployed from Afghanistan to the region."
"It's understood the remotely-piloted aircraft have conducted more than a dozen sorties over Iraq so far - mostly in a reconnaissance role."