RAF crew set to be cleared over strike on Syrian soldiers

RAF drone pilots involved in a devastating attack in Syria which killed 62 government soldiers and led to claims that the UK breached the country’s ceasefire will be cleared by an official report, The Mail on Sunday has been told.

Senior RAF sources say the pilots were not involved in the gathering of intelligence which is understood to have mistaken troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for members of Islamic State.

The RAF is co-operating with a US-led investigation into last Saturday’s botched air strike near the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, blamed for causing a fragile ceasefire in Syria to collapse.

British crews are understood to have been interviewed as part of the probe, and the US military is expected to publish an interim report this week which will exonerate UK personnel.

RAF sources confirmed that a British Reaper drone flying over Syria engaged the targets on the ground, while US, Australian and Danish aircraft were also involved.

Approval for the controversial air strike was granted by commanders at coalition headquarters in Doha, Qatar. Their decision was based on an intelligence assessment of fighters in Deir al-Zour. This assessment is now at the centre of the investigation.

Syrian military chiefs said the attack hit a base that was surrounded by IS fighters, enabling the militants to overrun their positions.

The incident led to furious exchanges between Russia and the US at the United Nations in New York.

Last night, other RAF sources also put forward a different version of events. They insisted the troops who lost their lives were in fact IS fighters, and the Syrian government’s claim that its soldiers were killed was a lie as part of a propaganda war.

Coalition commanders apparently informed Russia in advance about the air strike and no immediate concerns were raised, which lends support to the theory that the victims were jihadis.

Speaking about intelligence-gathering in general terms, Air Commodore Dean Andrew, who is in charge of the UK’s drone fleet, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Relying on several different sources that are checked and crosschecked means there is a strong corroboration which leaves little room for single-stream failure.’