British pilots take part in anti-ISIL bombing campaign in Syria

Human rights group, Reprieve, reveals that service personnel acted under auspices of other members of the US-led anti-ISIL coalition. The details were revealed under a freedom of information request from the rights group.

Although the figure cited is believed to be in the single digit. It is also not known what planes British pilots have used to carry out strikes but reports suggest that they were embedded with American and Canadian air forces.

The Ministry of Defense had, so far, maintained that the UK was contributing to the anti-ISIL coalition with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

The participation of the Royal Air Force in Syria campaign is, however, against the 2013 motion in parliament that rejected any military campaign in Syria. The House of Commons had authorized the defense ministry to go ahead with airstrikes in neighboring Iraq alone.

“The UK government would never be able to succeed in the Middle East because they are the architect of the problems in the first place and the only way it can solve is not to try to bomb more people. The UK government is not actually looking for a political solution, if you look at the extensions [sic] by the UK government, most of them have been around providing funding to certain groups. In fact it led to more support for ISIS because of the military action this country has been taking”, Raza Nadim, a London-based political commentator told Press TV.

Recently though, the Conservative government has hinted of extending air strike in Syria in the wake of the Tunisia massacre that was carried out by an ISIL-affiliate and claimed the lives of 38 including 30 British tourists.

Prime Minister David Cameron and the Defense Secretary, Michael Fallon indicated that they would seek the parliamentary approval for anti-ISIL campaign in Syria. Fallon said: There’s illogicality about targeting ISIS in Iraq but not in Syria. The PM office said: “Thought and deliberation are needed before a vote”.