SECRET RAF DRONE STRIKES TAKE OUT BRITISH JIHADISTS
Our ‘pilots’ working way through kill list of UK fanatics fighting for IS in Iraq and Syria
RAF pilots have been secretly assassinating British jihadists plotting UK terror attacks from bases in Syria and Iraq.
Using drones and fighter jets, they have been working their way through a ‘kill list’ of key targets. Neither Parliament nor public has been informed.
David Cameron caused a furore when he revealed in September 2015 that the UK had used military force in Syria without the approval of MPs. Three British fanatics were killed in drone strikes.
No further deaths have been announced since then – apparently on the basis that the Government later won parliamentary backing for its Syrian operations.
The Ministry of Defence also said hits were hard to verify and it did not want to make martyrs out of terrorists.
‘When we know where they are we kill them,’ said a senior defence source. ‘Our priority is those plotting against the UK. We have found evidence of this. We are also helping the French who don’t have our capabilities.’
The British pilots are operating the drones from a hangar at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, 3,000 miles from Syria. In a statement,
the MoD said: ‘We and our coalition partners have been clear that if you are fighting for Daesh (Islamic State) in Iraq and Syria then you will be targeted, irrespective of nationality. The UK is committed to the defeat of Daesh and publishes regular updates on air strikes conducted by the RAF.’
UK intelligence agencies are helping to find other British jihadists, who expose their locations when they use their mobile phones.
RAF jets and drones can then target them using laser-guided missiles and 500lb bombs.
The defence source said ‘UK voices’ had been picked up in the trenches in Syria as troops closed in on Islamic State’s stronghold of Raqqa.
However, the disclosure that UK forces have continued to take out British jihadists abroad without any public announcement is controversial.
Mr Cameron stunned MPs 18 months ago with news of the assassination in Syria of a jihadist plotting an atrocity at an event attended by the Queen. Reyaad Khan, 21 and from Cardiff, was killed along with another British fanatic, Ruhul Amin, on August 21, 2015. A third jihadist, Junaid Hussain from Birmingham, was killed by a US drone in a joint operation three days later.
Mr Cameron said Khan was a ‘ clear and present danger’ but the Government was accused of executing a secret ‘ kill policy’ and critics demanded a judicial review.
Shortly afterwards, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said Britain would not hesitate to carry out more drone strikes against jihadists plotting ‘ armed attacks on our streets’. That December, MPs voted in favour of the UK joining a coalition of nations carrying out airstrikes on IS targets in Syria.
Defence sources said: ‘ The UK has a robust target clearance process, operates under strict rules of engagement and complies fully with international law.’
A Government lawyer must make sure every operation is legal and conforms to the rules of engagement, which are set out by the Attorney General Jeremy Wright QC.
He has said pre-emptive military strikes against terrorist targets overseas are required for national defence.
It is understood that RAF pilots have been given orders to take out high-profile targets from other nations and not just Britons.
In June last year, Sir Michael Fallon revealed around 850 people linked to the UK and regarded as a security threat were believed to have taken part in the conflict in Syria, which extends to Iraq.
He said that at least 85 British jihadis and fighters involved in Syria’s bloody civil war had been killed. Spy agencies have been monitoring the activity of British extremists on foreign soil and have tried to trace their locations using sophisticated technology.
One of the main areas of focus has been Raqqa. Jihadi John, the IS executioner from Britain whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi, was killed in a US drone strike in the centre of the city.
According to a government memorandum submitted to the parliamentary joint committee on human rights it has been a ‘long-held’ position that such force can be used in self defence.
This applies ‘not only where an armed attack is underway, but also where an armed attack is imminent’, it says. It adds: ‘ Where the UK determines that it faces an imminent armed attack from IS, it is entitled to use necessary and proportionate force to repel or forestall that attack in exercise of the inherent right of individual self-defence.’
Decisions concerning the use of force in self defence are taken by the Prime Minister in consultation with other senior ministers and advisers.
Major General Rupert Jones, Britain’s top commander in the region, says intelligence obtained from IS’s ‘ external operations hubs’ show chilling plans by militants to kill and maim civilians in the West.
On Tuesday it emerged that a Briton paid up to £1million in compensation after being freed from Guantanamo Bay was behind a suicide bombing in Iraq. Ronald Fiddler – 50 and from Manchester – died on Sunday attacking an army base.