Royal Air Force Drones Have Been Hunting British Jihadis in Syria for Months

Unmanned British aerial drones armed with Hellfire missiles have been flying the skies over Syria for months in an effort to target British jihadis on a “kill list” written by senior ministers on the U.K. National Security Council.

The Guardian reports:

As the defence secretary Michael Fallon said ministers would not hesitate to approve further strikes against jihadis who have their own kill list, Jeremy Corbyn led a cross-party group of MPs who raised doubts about the change in strategy.

Corbyn said: “There has to be a legal basis for what’s going on. This is war without parliamentary approval. And in fact parliament specifically said no to this war in September 2013.”

Senior Liberal Democrats suggested that the RAF drone strike, which led to the killing of two British Islamic State members on 21 August, went beyond anything that would have been approved when Nick Clegg sat on the NSC. “The hawks have been let loose and are trying to test the boundaries of what is possible,” one former Lib Dem coalition source said.

Their comments came after it emerged that the kill list with the names of several British jihadis was drawn up at a meeting of senior NSC members, chaired by David Cameron, which approved the drone strike in Syria. It is understood that the kill list includes Mohammed Emwazi who is believed to be the extremist in several Islamic State videos filmed beheading captives.

Read more here.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.