UK Conducted Record Number Of Air, Drone Strikes In Syria In December - Campaign Group

Umer Jamshaid Published February 11, 2019 | 06:32 PM

UK forces carried out 75 air and drone strikes in Syria in December 2018, making this the highest number of strikes conducted by the country over one month, campaign group Drone Wars UK said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2019) UK forces carried out 75 air and drone strikes in Syria in December 2018, making this the highest number of strikes conducted by the country over one month, campaign group Drone Wars UK said on Monday.

According to the group, UK troops carried out 244 air and drone strikes in Syria last year, firing a total of 512 munitions. However, the number of strikes conducted a year prior was nearly twice that number 477.

Between 2014 and the end of 2018, UK forces fired 4,111 missiles and bombs in a total of 1,925 strikes against terrorists in Syria and Iraq, the publication said.

In 2018, more UK weapons were fired in Syria than in Iraq for the first time 90 percent of UK aircraft missions occurred in Syria, while only 10 percent took place in Iraq.

UK drones continued to operate in both Iraq and Syria last year, but no UK drone strikes were registered in Iraq.

According to the publication, despite the fact that the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, outlawed in Russia) has been defeated as a united military force, UK defense leadership still insists on the continuation of strikes until the absolute destruction of IS.

The US-led international coalition of more than 70 nations, including the United Kingdom, launched its counterterrorism campaign in Syria in 2014 and has been operating in the country ever since, without securing permission either from the United Nations Security Council or Damascus.