UK to send surveillance jets to Iraq; US strikes on

Washington/London/ Baghdad: US drones fired on an Islamic extremist mortar position in northern Iraq on Tuesday to protect Kurdish forces battling to rescue a group of Yazidi civilian refugees, the military said while Britain made a second airdrop of aid to refugees in northern Iraq. British Tornado fighter jets were readied to provide surveillance support for the humanitarian effort.

The Royal Air Force was forced to abandon a drop on Monday because of fears of injuring people on the ground, but a repeat attempt overnight was successful, the Department for International Development said.

Two aid drops have now been made of water and solar lamps that can also be used to charge mobile phones. Britain is also preparing to deploy a “small number” of Tornado jets to gather information to help deliver aid to civilians fleeing IS militants, David Cameron’s Downing Street office said. “We have decided to pre position a small number of Tornados in the region so that they could, if required, use their excellent surveillance capability to gather better situational awareness to help with humanitarian effort,” a spokeswoman said.