British bombers carried out their first air strikes on Syria less than one hour after MPs backed Prime Minister David Cameron’s call for the U.K. to join the raids against Islamic State.
The strikes targeted the Omar oil fields in eastern Syria, which are controlled by ISIL, and were successful, U.K. Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said. He had personally approved the targets ahead of the parliamentary vote late on Wednesday.
The Tornado jets left the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus just before 11.30pm U.K. time — 57 minutes after MPs had voted.
MPs spent 10 hours debating air strikes before the vote, which the Conservative government won by 397 to 223. An estimated 67 Labour MPs backed the government, in defiance of their party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.