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| Two Britons killed in RAF Syria strike, PM tells MPs | Two Britons killed in RAF Syria strike, PM tells MPs |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Two British fighters with so-called Islamic State were killed by an RAF drone strike in Syria in an "act of self-defence", David Cameron has said. | Two British fighters with so-called Islamic State were killed by an RAF drone strike in Syria in an "act of self-defence", David Cameron has said. |
| Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan was targeted in Raqqa on 21 August and died alongside Ruhul Amin, from Aberdeen, and another fighter, the PM told MPs. | Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan was targeted in Raqqa on 21 August and died alongside Ruhul Amin, from Aberdeen, and another fighter, the PM told MPs. |
| Khan, 21, had been plotting "barbaric" attacks on UK soil, he said. | Khan, 21, had been plotting "barbaric" attacks on UK soil, he said. |
| The action was lawful and necessary, Mr Cameron said, despite MPs previously ruling out UK military action in Syria. | The action was lawful and necessary, Mr Cameron said, despite MPs previously ruling out UK military action in Syria. |
| Khan was killed in a precision air strike by an RAF remotely piloted aircraft "after meticulous planning" while he was travelling in a vehicle, the prime minister said. | Khan was killed in a precision air strike by an RAF remotely piloted aircraft "after meticulous planning" while he was travelling in a vehicle, the prime minister said. |
| The strike was "entirely lawful" and had been approved by the attorney general, he added. | |
| Two years ago MPs rejected possible UK military action in Syria. | |
| However, last year officials said the UK would "act immediately [in Syria] and explain to Parliament afterwards" if there was "a critical British national interest at stake". | |
| In a statement to the Commons, Mr Cameron said: "My first duty as prime minister is to keep the British people safe. | In a statement to the Commons, Mr Cameron said: "My first duty as prime minister is to keep the British people safe. |
| "There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop him. | "There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop him. |
| "This government does not for one moment take these decisions lightly. | "This government does not for one moment take these decisions lightly. |
| "But I am not prepared to stand here in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on our streets and have to explain to the House why I did not take the chance to prevent it when I could have done." | "But I am not prepared to stand here in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on our streets and have to explain to the House why I did not take the chance to prevent it when I could have done." |
| Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman questioned the legality of the strike, and urged the government to publish the legal advice. | |
| "Why didn't the Attorney General authorise this specific action rather than merely 'confirming there was a legal basis for it'?" she said. | |
| "What was it about this individual and his actions that singled him out from all that has gone before? | |
| "Did he represent an ongoing threat or was the threat based on a specific act he was plotting?" | |
| She called for "independent scrutiny" of the attack. | |
| Another British national, Junaid Hussain, from Birmingham, was killed in a separate air strike by US forces in Raqqa on 24 August, the prime minister confirmed. | |
| Analysis | Analysis |
| By BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale | By BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale |
| Unmanned Reaper drones joined RAF Tornado jets in conducting surveillance and air strikes soon after Parliament authorised military action against the group calling itself Islamic State last September. | Unmanned Reaper drones joined RAF Tornado jets in conducting surveillance and air strikes soon after Parliament authorised military action against the group calling itself Islamic State last September. |
| The vote confined that military action to Iraq, but at the time the prime minister told MPs he "reserved the right" to act elsewhere "if there were a critical British national interest at stake". | The vote confined that military action to Iraq, but at the time the prime minister told MPs he "reserved the right" to act elsewhere "if there were a critical British national interest at stake". |
| The government will argue the air strike on Reyaad Khan was such a case. But carrying out an RAF air strike in Syria will still be controversial; even more so because a British citizen was targeted. | |
| Though government officials insist that he posed a direct threat to the UK and was on a legitimate "target list", there'll be plenty of questions. What was the intelligence on which the decision was based? Whose target list was he on? | Though government officials insist that he posed a direct threat to the UK and was on a legitimate "target list", there'll be plenty of questions. What was the intelligence on which the decision was based? Whose target list was he on? |
| There are reports the CIA has compiled a list of high-value targets. There will inevitably be some suspicion around the secrecy - the MOD has never publicly stated how many Reapers the RAF are operating or where they're based. | There are reports the CIA has compiled a list of high-value targets. There will inevitably be some suspicion around the secrecy - the MOD has never publicly stated how many Reapers the RAF are operating or where they're based. |
| The fact that RAF Reapers have been flying over Syria is not in itself a surprise. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told MPs last October they would be conducting surveillance missions. | The fact that RAF Reapers have been flying over Syria is not in itself a surprise. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told MPs last October they would be conducting surveillance missions. |
| But in a written statement he also stated: "Reapers are not authorised to use weapons in Syria; that would require further permission." | But in a written statement he also stated: "Reapers are not authorised to use weapons in Syria; that would require further permission." |