RAF drone disrupts Isil public execution in Syria

Remote-controlled aircraft’s missile kills one militant and forces others to flee

AN RAF Reaper drone interrupted an Islamic State public execution by opening fire on the militants and driving them off, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The remote-controlled aircraft disrupted the display in a Syrian town by killing a sentry with a Hellfire missile.

Details of the incident on May 9 were revealed last night by the MOD. The Reaper was flying an armed reconnaissance mission when it spotted a group of fighters from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), also known as Daesh, in a main street in the town of Abu Kamal in eastern Syria.

A statement from the MOD said: “When a van then unloaded two shackled prisoners in front of the crowd, it became clear that Daesh were organising a public execution.

“Given the large number of civilians present, the Reaper’s crew could not target directly the Daesh fighters about to carry out the murders.”

The Reaper pilots, who were flying the aircraft by satellite link from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, spotted two Isil fighters posted as sentries on a nearby roof overlooking the makeshift execution ground.

The statement said: “A Hellfire missile was fired immediately, and scored a direct hit which not only killed one of the sentries but also brought the execution to an immediate halt.”

RAF sources said the missile strike caused panic among the crowd and the Isil fighters and the militants fled. But it was not immediately clear if the prisoners due to be killed escaped or were taken away by their would-be executioners.

RAF Tornado and Typhoon jets and Reaper drones are all flying air strike missions over Iraq and Syrian as part of Britain’s role in the international coalition against Isil.

Public executions have become more common in Isil-held territory, security sources told The Daily Telegraph, with the group apparently becoming more paranoid as it loses territory in the face of advances by Syrian rebel forces, Kurds and Iraqi troops.

Reports from inside the militant’s so-called caliphate suggest people are often killed after being accused of being spies or deserting fighters, security sources said.

Abu Kamal, on the border with Iraq, is considered a strategically important supply conduit for Isil between its strongholds in each country.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces battling the militants in Mosul claimed they had recaptured around 90 per cent of city after nearly seven months of house-to-house fighting.