British fighter jets fired on Islamic State (IS) militants west of Baghdad and in north-west Iraq in two rounds of air strikes Wednesday, the defence ministry in London said. Two Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado warplanes based in Cyprus fired four Brimstone missiles on two IS vehicles, including an armed pick-up truck, the ministry said in a statement.
"Two Tornado GR4s from RAF Akrotiri conducted an armed reconnaissance mission in support of Iraqi government forces west of Baghdad," it said. "They were tasked to examine a location suspected of being used as an ISIL (another term for IS) command and control position. "At the scene they were able to identify ISIL activity and two vehicles, one of which was an armed pick up truck." The missiles were used "to conduct a precision attack on the vehicles," it said. Two British jets also fired on IS jihadists fighting Kurdish forces. "The aircraft pin-pointed the location from which ISIL fighters were directing heavy fire on the Kurdish troops and conducted a precision strike with Paveway IV guided bombs," the ministry said.