Britain to fly surveillance missions over Syria

London: Britain said on Tuesday it was authorising spy planes and armed drones to fly surveillance missions over Syria “very shortly” to gather intelligence on Daesh militants.

Michael Fallon, the defence minister, said both Reaper drones and Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft would fly over Syria as part of “efforts to protect our national security from the terrorist threat emanating from there.” But in a written statement to parliament, he stressed that Reapers would not be allowed to use their weapons in Syria, something he said would require “further permission.” A defence ministry spokeswoman was unable to immediately clarify whether that meant ministerial approval or a vote in parliament.

Fallon announced last week that Britain was deploying armed Reaper drones to the Middle East to conduct air strikes against Daesh in Iraq.

Parliament voted to approve air strikes against Daesh in Iraq last month, after a request from the Iraqi government, but Britain isn’t conducting air strikes in Syria. It has previously said such strikes would require fresh parliamentary approval.