The Reaper drone is often used for strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria (Image: MOD)
The has killed a so-called Islamic State terrorist in the first confirmed air strike since Labour came to power. A Reaper drone tracked the individual in north-west before firing a Hellfire missile.
The strike on February 25 was part of Operation Shader – the UK’s mission against IS, also known as Daesh, in and . The Ministry of Defence said in a statement: “Royal Air Force aircraft continue to conduct armed reconnaissance patrols over Syria to counter Daesh terrorism threats, ready to strike such targets should they be identified. On Tuesday 25 February, a remotely-piloted Reaper aircraft tracked a known Daesh terrorist in the Aleppo Governate of north-west Syria.
Armed aerial reconnaissance patrols over Syria tracked down and engaged a Daesh terrorist target on 25th February. The UK continues to work play a leading role in the global fight against Daesh in Iraq and Syria through Operation SHADER.
— Ministry of Defence ???????????? (@DefenceHQ)
“The Reaper’s crew kept a close watch on the individual: when he was seen alone on foot, and could be struck with minimal risk to any civilians, they successfully targeted the terrorist using the Reaper’s Hellfire missile system.”
Operation Shader has been running since 2014 and has seen more than 1,000 airstrikes carried out – but the pace of the mission has reduced in recent years.
The last known RAF strike on the group was in June – a Reaper again fired a Hellfire missile after tracking a target in a desert area.
The previous UK strike was by a Typhoon fighter jet in April 2024, which fired a precision-guided bomb to destroy a rocket launcher system in north-west Iraq.
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The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has .
In December, the US said it had killed the leader of IS in .
The announcement of the British strike comes days after US forces killed a senior military leader of the Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din in Syria.
The US has around 900 troops in as part of an international coalition against IS.