News article

1. Two British born IS fighters killed in UK
drone attacks in Syria
In what is seen as the first independentBritish military action in Syria, two British born IS jihadists were
killed in a precision attack conducted by remotely piloted aircraft, commonly referred to as ‘Drones’ on Aug
21 in the Syrian city of Raqqa. The British Prime Minister David Cameron announced aboutthe air strike on

2. Monday. This strike is also the first drone attack conducted by the UK against one of its own citizens. The
slain jihadists were identified as Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan, 21 and Ruhul Amin, 26 from Aberdeen. The
attack which was authorized by defence secretary Michael Fallon was conducted withoutthe approval of
the British parliament and was stated as a perfectly legal actof Selfdefence as one the men killed was
known to be planning a series ofattacks in the UK. The Prime minister said that Khan was targeting a high
profile commemoration service aboutto take place at that time in Britain.
In his commons statement, Mr. Cameron revealed thatthe attorney general, upon being consulted about
the strikes had agreed that there was a clear legal basis for this operation. The reaction from other leaders
was mixed with many questions being raised.The acting Labour leader Harriet Harman was among the
many leaders who urged the governmentto publish the legal notice and she called for an independent
scrutiny ofthe attack. While the former shadow home secretary David Davis said he believed the strike was
justified, he also expressed caution aboutthe possibility ofsuch attacks turning into a routine affair as was
the case with the Americans. The human rights group Reprieve described the air strike as "deeply
worrying".
While announcing the strikes, Mr. Cameron said: "My first duty as Prime Minister is to keep the British
people safe. That is what I will always do. There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no
other means to stop them. But I am not prepared to stand here in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on our
streets and have to explain why I did nottake the chance to preventit when I could have done.”
A third Briton, Junaid Hussain, 21 was also killed in a separate US air strike. Officials said they decided to
go ahead with the air strike against their primary target Reyaad Khan after it had emerged thatKhan was
plotting to attack the VJ day commemoration services thatwere held last month and was attended by The
Queen, The Prince ofWales and the Prime minister.
While British warplanes were engaged in airstrikes againstthe IS in neighboring Iraq, the role ofthe UK in
Syria (against the IS) – before this airstrike, was limited to intelligence gathering alone and did notinclude
any participation in the punitive airstrikes conducted by a US led international coalition. And this is seen by
the Royal United Services Institute think tank as a big departure in policy.
Vijay ram