MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United Kingdom will send the Royal Navy’s HMS Daring destroyer to the Persian Gulf to help the US-led coalition in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group, local media reported citing UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.
According to Fallon, as cited by The Independent newspaper on Sunday, HMS Daring will leave the English port of Portsmouth on Friday. The destroyer’s mission will last nine months, according to the paper.
The destroyer, worth 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion), will be tasked with protecting US aircraft carriers that are engaged in bombing raids of Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria, the newspaper reported.
The US-led coalition of over 60 states has been carrying out airstrikes against positions of Daesh terrorists, outlawed in many countries including the United States and Russia, on the territories of Iraq and Syria since 2014.
