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| Islamic State vehicles targeted by RAF Tornados | Islamic State vehicles targeted by RAF Tornados |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| RAF jets fired four missiles at Islamic State (IS) vehicles in Iraq overnight, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said. | RAF jets fired four missiles at Islamic State (IS) vehicles in Iraq overnight, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said. |
| It said two Tornados had fired Brimstone missiles at an armed pick-up truck and a transport vehicle west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, adding that the strikes had been "successful". | It said two Tornados had fired Brimstone missiles at an armed pick-up truck and a transport vehicle west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, adding that the strikes had been "successful". |
| On Tuesday RAF Tornados carried out their first strikes, on a "heavy weapon position" and an armed pick-up truck. | On Tuesday RAF Tornados carried out their first strikes, on a "heavy weapon position" and an armed pick-up truck. |
| Those attacks came four days after Parliament approved military action. | Those attacks came four days after Parliament approved military action. |
| Commenting on the latest sorties, the MoD said the jets had been sent to examine a suspected command and control position of IS, the militant group also known as Isis or Isil. | Commenting on the latest sorties, the MoD said the jets had been sent to examine a suspected command and control position of IS, the militant group also known as Isis or Isil. |
| "At the scene they were able to identify Isil activity and two vehicles, one of which was an armed pick-up truck," it said. | |
| "Four Brimstone missiles were used to conduct a precision attack on the vehicles. Initial analysis indicates that the strikes were successful." | |
| There has been no independent confirmation about the targets. | |
| Reconnaissance mission | |
| About 40 nations have joined a coalition to tackle IS, which has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in the past few months. | About 40 nations have joined a coalition to tackle IS, which has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in the past few months. |
| Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told LBC Radio: "You should see this now as a pattern - the RAFs flying overhead... in support of [Iraqi army and Kurdish] ground forces." | Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told LBC Radio: "You should see this now as a pattern - the RAFs flying overhead... in support of [Iraqi army and Kurdish] ground forces." |
| It is the second time UK forces have directly engaged IS since Parliament authorised involvement in the international military campaign last week. | |
| On Tuesday, the MoD said Tornados had been on an "armed reconnaissance mission" when they were asked to help Kurdish troops in north-west Iraq. | |
| The jets identified an IS heavy weapon position, which the MoD said was firing on Kurdish forces. | |
| A guided bomb was used to attack the position, while a missile targeted an armed pick-up truck in the same area, it said. | |
| Appeal for mercy | |
| There were also reports of heavy fighting on Tuesday across a key border crossing between Iraq and Syria involving Kurdish forces and IS militants. | |
| IS, which has established a self-declared "caliphate" in the territory it controls, is holding a number of hostages. | |
| Last month, in a video showing the beheading of British hostage David Haines the militants said the next to be killed may be Alan Henning - a taxi driver from Eccles who had been delivering aid to Syria when he was captured last year. | |
| Mr Henning's wife, Barbara, has again appealed to IS leaders to show mercy. |