CLAIMS THAT RAF Lossiemouth aircraft deployed last month following agreed action in Syria has been a “non-event” are being dismissed by defence chiefs.
A national newspaper report claimed that that the deployment of six Typhoons from the Moray base along with 100 support staff has so far produced just one operation over Syria.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the RAF carried out one attack in Syria over the four weeks since the House of Commons vote paving the way for their deployment. That was immediately dismissed by the Ministry of Defence, who say that there have been ten successful strikes in Syria.
Reports from the MoD indicated a number of strikes by the Typhoons supported by Tornado GR4’s were made on the Omar oilfield in Syria, as well as several operations where the Moray-based aircraft were involved in supporting Iraqi ground troops in their operations against Daesh forces.
Responding to Sunday’s reports, a spokesman for the MoD said: “To help keep the streets of Britain safe we must continue to attack Daesh in Syria as well as in Iraq – but we have always been clear that this is a fight that will take time and patience.
“This is one battlefield, over a border that Daesh does not recognise and we continue to play a leading role in the counter-Daesh coalition in both countries – flying over 1700 missions, conducting over 430 strikes and providing over 60% of the coalition’s vital tactical intelligence, which will be one of the key factors that ultimately destroys the terrorist organisation.”