MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The number of the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) operations in Syria have increased by 480 percent during the first half of 2017 in comparison to the previous 6 months, the investigative organization Drone Wars UK said Wednesday, citing the UK Defense Ministry.
"According to the figures, UK armed air missions in Syria rose by 480% in the first half of 2017 compared with the previous six months [from 124 to 593] … However, rather surprisingly in the light of the huge increase in missions in Syria, the vast majority of UK air strikes continues to occur in Iraq, with 81% of UK missiles and bombs dropped there in the first half of the year [489 against 118 in Syria]," the statement based on Freedom of Information responses reads.
At the same time, the data showed that the number of air operations in Iraq decreased almost two-fold — from 625 in the second half of 2016 to 337 in the first six months of 2017.
Additionally, the UK Reaper drones’ mission focus was switched to Syria instead of Iraq, with 254 and 84 missions held in those states respectively in the first half of 2017.
The US-led coalition comprised of 70 members is conducting airstrikes, ground-based and rocket-propelled artillery fire against the Islamic State terror group (IS, outlawed in Russia) in Syria and Iraq.
