UPDATE: British Reaper drones over Syria ‘very shortly’

L LONDON – Britain said on Tuesday it was sending “Reaper” armed drones and manned spy planes on surveillance missions over Syria.

The announcement was welcomed by Aziz Othman, London representative of the Kurdish National Council of Syria.

“It is brilliant news if Britain involves itself in Syria. The British government is a key figure in the region. We have been calling for the government to get their act together and intervene further,” he told Rudaw.

Othman dismissed fears that Britain risked being dragged into the conflict with Syria by agreeing to use Reapers in Syrian airspace.

“Unless the government acts now, things will definitely get worse. They have the capability and they definitely should join the US in launching air strikes,” he said.

Reapers are already deployed over Iraq, where they contribute to air strikes by coalition forces against Islamic State (ISIS) forces.

However they will not be used as attack aircraft in Syria.

“Reapers are not authorised to use weapons in Syria; that would require further permission,” said Michael Fallon, Secretary of State for Defence, in a written statement to Parliament.

He said that both Reaper drones and Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft, which are piloted, would be authorised to fly surveillance missions over Syria and that operations would begin “very shortly”.

The deployment of the drones in Syria follows air drops this week by US forces of arms and medication to the Kurdish and Syrian fighters defending the border town of Kobane from ISIS forces, and a commitment by Turkey to allow Peshmerga to cross its territory in order to reinforce the defence of Kobane.

With the launching of the Reaper into Syrian airspace, some observers believe the United Kingdom has come one step closer to inevitable involvement in military action in Syria.

The Reapers have been redeployed from Afghanistan for use against ISIS in the region. Mr Fallon said last week that as Reaper numbers were reduced in Afghanistan more would be based in the Middle East against the militants.

“As the UK’s only armed remotely piloted aircraft, Reaper will add to the strike capability (over Iraq) we are already providing,” he said last Monday. So far, the Royal Air Force has flown around 38 combat missions in Iraq.

Mr Fallon said that the Reaper complemented highly-valued surveillance support and situational awareness both to the Iraqi authorities and to the US-led coalition partners.

The Ministry of Defence refused to comment about when the drones would begin flights over Syria, and if there had been any discussions with the Syrian government.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron declined to comment on the purpose of the intelligence to be gathered, or whether it would be shared with the US, which is currently leading the air strikes in Syria.

The British Parliament voted to approve air strikes against ISIS in Iraq last month, after a request from the Iraqi government. But Britain has previously said that air strikes against Syria would require fresh parliamentary approval.

Asked why parliament had not been consulted about the use of the Reaper drones to conduct surveillance over Syria, the spokesman said it was because it did not amount to military action.