Two British Tornado fighter jets left Akrotiri base in South Cyprus on Saturday on their first mission over Iraq after the UK Parliament gave the go ahead, ‘Reuters’ reports.
The fighter jets left RAF Akrotiri at 8.25 on Saturday morning, however, although they had been authorised to carry out air strikes against Islamic militants, none were made, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.
Following their return after seven hours, the MOD 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”.
Britain’s parliament voted on Friday to join a coalition led by the US and supported by some Gulf and EU nations against militant group ISIS.
Saturday’s mission would help the UK and its allies to spot potential targets in Iraq in the future, the MOD said.
