British fighter jets fly over Iraq on their first missionSeptember 27, 2014 - 22:31 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Two British fighter jets flew over Iraq on Saturday, Sept 27 on their first mission since the UK parliament authorized bombing missions against Islamic State militants, but they did not carry out any air strikes, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) said, according to Reuters. The Tornado jets left the British Royal Air Force's Akrotiri base in Cyprus at 3.25 am EDT and returned more than seven hours later, a Reuters witness said. "Although on this occasion no targets were identified as requiring immediate air attack by our aircraft, the intelligence gathered by the Tornados’ highly sophisticated surveillance equipment will be invaluable," the MOD said. The jets had been ready to be used in an attack role, had appropriate targets been identified. The United States has been conducting air strikes over Iraq since Aug 8 and over Syria since Tuesday as part of a campaign to "degrade and destroy" the Islamic State insurgents who have captured swathes of both countries, beheaded Western hostages and ordered Shi'ites and non-Muslims to convert or die. With Friday's parliamentary vote, Britain joined a U.S.-led coalition supported by some Gulf and European nations against the militant group. France has also conducted air strikes in Iraq, while Washington said Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates joined strikes over Syria on Saturday. The MOD said Saturday's mission would help Britain and its partners identify future potential targets in Iraq. They were supported by an RAF Voyager refueling tanker. Six Tornado jets, normally based at RAF Marham in England, have been based on Cyprus since August. They have been engaged in intelligence-gathering and reconnaissance over Iraq for the past six weeks. Britain retains two military bases on Cyprus, which it ruled as a colony until independence in 1960. Photo: Reuters Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Armenian, Saudi Foreign Minister meet in Riyadh The two commended the positive dynamics of the development of political dialogue between Armenia and Saudi Arabia Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. U.S. doesn’t see Russia as contributing to peace in Caucasus Patel made the remarks when asked about the implications of Russia’s withdrawal of peacekeepers from Karabakh. Up to 1% cashback when shopping on Wildberries with IDBank cards IDBank is launching an exclusive campaign on Wildberries for online shopping enthusiasts. |