UK carries out 2nd airstrike against Islamic State oilfields

It comes after the first night of British involvement in the conflict in Syria which saw British Tornados hit seven targets in eastern Syrian oil fields.

Four Tornado jets launched the first United Kingdom air strikes in Syria on Thursday, December 3.

This week UK MPs voted 397 to 223 to approve David Cameron’s plans to launch air strikes on the terror group’s forces in the wake of the Paris terror attacks.

The aim has been to try to disrupt oil supplies to Islamic State.

Both the U.S.-led coalition and Russian warplanes have struck the extremists’ oil facilities and Russia has drawn heated worldwide attention to the issue by accusing Turkish authorities of profiting from oil trade with IS – allegations Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has strongly denied.

France welcomed the first British airstrikes in Syria, saying they are a sign of the European solidarity promised after the deadly November 13 attacks on Paris claimed by ISIS militants.

“The RAF Tornado and Reaper aircraft that have been conducting air strikes against Daesh (a derogatory Arabic term for ISIS) have now been reinforced by a detachment of Typhoon fighters, which carry the same Paveway IV precision guided bombs as the Tornados”.

“The strikes actually help to bring about a political settlement because the strikes take the action to Daesh, which is everybody’s enemy”.

One man suffered serious knife wounds, which were non-life-threatening, while two other people sustained minor injuries.

Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon walks under the nose of a Eurofighter Typhoon with Lt General John Lorimer, prior to speaking to pilots and ground crew at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, as RAF jets at the base continue bombing runs over Syria.

“Mr Fallon said: “[The military] have the support of Parliament, Parliament represents the public. And it derives from Syria.

RAF Tornado fighter jets had already flown an armed patrol over the east of the country “gathering intelligence on terrorist activity”, the Ministry of Defence said.

“The threat from the Daesh [Islamic State] is a threat to Britain”, he said.

“We are developing partnerships, although they are not as strong as we want yet, with local tribes and Sunnis who are willing to fight ISIL”, Obama noted.