(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) The UK is to extend air strikes by RAF Tornados against the Islamic State group(ISIS), by an extra year, to March 2017, the defense secretary has said.
Michael Fallon, who is on a visit to Iraq, said the British jets had helped Iraqi forces on the ground to push ISIS militants out of key towns.
"We want to ensure we maintain this crucial operational tempo," he said. But he ruled out the possibility of Western ground troops joining the fight and said Iraq had not requested this.
The squadron of Tornado GR4 fighter bombers - Number 12 Squadron - was due to be disbanded in March and replaced with a squadron of Typhoon air defense fighters.
But, following the launch of air strikes against ISIS last September, Prime Minister David Cameron announced the Tornadoes would carry on until March 2016 so they could continue in their specialist ground-attack role.
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