MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - British Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jets ready to begin airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militant group positions in Iraq as early as today, Sky News reported Saturday.
Britain's six Tornado GR4 fighters have been positioned in Cyprus for the past six weeks, occasionally carrying out surveillance missions in the Middle East.
British parliament yesterday gave approval for the UK to join the US-led coalition, which fights the extremists in the Middle East.
The United States launched airstrikes against the IS fighters in Iraq back in August, following the jihadists' rapid advance in the country's North.
Earlier in September, US President Barack Obama outlined a strategy on fighting the IS and other terrorist groups in the Middle East. The plan implied the establishment of a multinational coalition to counter terrorism in the region.
Since the beginning of the week, Washington has been carrying out strikes against the IS and other insurgents on the Syrian territory, without any formal permission from Damascus.
Various politicians and international experts have stressed that all actions against the IS and other extremists in the Middle East must be carried out with consent of suffering countries' legitimate authorities, otherwise such actions violate the international laws.
According to Sky News, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said US-led airstrikes had already worsened a dire humanitarian crisis in Iraq and Syria.
