Fight against ISIS: Britain sends drones to fly over Syria

London, Oct 22: The British defence ministry Tuesday confirmed that unmanned drones would fly in surveillance missions over Syria.

Britain's remotely piloted aircraft systems, Reaper and Rivet Joint aircraft will be authorised to head out on surveillance missions in order to gather intelligence on Islamic State (IS) militants, Xinhua reported.

Michael Fallon, Britain's secretary of state for defence, said: "I can confirm that Reaper remotely-piloted aircraft are due to begin operations very shortly."

Reapers and Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft would fly over Syria "as part of our efforts to protect our national security from the terrorist threat emanating from there", Fallon added.

The British government, however, said there would be no military action in Syria without a vote from the House of Commons unless there was an urgent humanitarian need.

In the statement, Fallon said "Reapers are not authorised to use weapons in Syria; that would require further permission."

Fallon also announced last week that British forces conduct air operations to assist the Iraqi government in its fight against the Islamic State.

The British Parliament approved air strikes against IS in Iraq last month, but Britain isn't conducting air strikes in Syria. It has previously said such strikes would require renewed parliamentary approval.

IANS