LONDON
The U.K. has carried out its first drone strike against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant inside Iraq, the Ministry of Defence has announced.
A remotely piloted Royal Air Force Reaper fired rockets on Monday at militants who were allegedly laying improvised explosive devices near Bayji, north of Baghdad, where ISIL militants were claimed to be operating, MoD officials.
The drone was also being used to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assistance to coalition aircraft.
The attack came a day after two RAF fighter jets were tasked to investigate suspected ISIL activity near Al Anbar, west of Baghdad, claimed the MoD.
The U.K. allegedly destroyed a shipping container used by militants to store equipment, said the ministry.
Secret location
British lawmakers voted 524 - 43 for air strikes on ISIL targets in Iraq on September 26.
The U.K. government announced last month it was using Reaper drones to fly surveillance missions over Syria, flying alongside Rivet Joint spy planes which carry eavesdropping sensors.
The Reaper can be armed, but does not have authorization to fire.
The drones were used in Afghanistan, but have since been moved to a secret location in the Middle East.
ISIL has captured large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, declaring what it calls a cross-border Islamic "caliphate," killing thousands of people and displacing millions in the two countries.
www.aa.com.tr/en
