RAF drone wiped out an IS jihadi on a motorbike after tracking him through Syria
AN RAF drone wiped out an IS jihadi on a motorbike after tracking him through Syria, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
The Islamist terrorist was taken out by a Hellfire missile fired from the £24million Reaper drone.
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The unmanned aircraft began tailing the motorcycle-riding fighter in Sarmada, near the border with Turkey, after intelligence identified him as a 'known member' of IS.
The Ministry of Defence told The Sun on Sunday in a statement: 'The Reaper's crew carefully tracked the terrorist on his motorcycle.
"Having checked that there were no signs of civilians nearby who might be placed at risk, [they] conducted a successful engagement, striking the motorcycle and eliminating the terrorist.'
Sources added the remotely-operated drone's crew were 'extremely careful' to wait for a 'gap' during the trailing of the terrorist.
The took him out when no other traffic or pedestrians were within a clear radius of him.
It is understood they had been monitoring him for 'some time' before firing the Hellfire missile at him.
The June 10 strike was the second RAF drone hit on an IS member in Syria this year.
In February — three months after tyrant Bashar Al-Assad fled to Moscow and rebel forces swept to power — another British drone pilot killed a member of the death cult in Aleppo.
The UK has been fighting IS, also called Daesh, since 2014.
The operation, codenamed Shader, saw the RAF conducting air strikes against the terror group in Iraq and later Syria.
I fought ISIS in Syria & I know bloodthirsty thugs are plotting comeback after fall of Assad - Europe must be ready, says Brit fighter
It has become one of the RAF's biggest operations in the last 25 years, with British pilots flying more than 10,000 sorties and striking more than 1,400 targets.
UK jets have carried out a fifth of all air strikes by coalition forces, equivalent to the contribution by US pilots.
Last year, former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace revealed that an IS terrorist had to be taken out by an RAF drone — because human rights laws prevented the SAS from seizing him.
The Islamist, who was making biological weapons, was among several killed after snatch operations were ruled out.
He was eliminated in a Hellfire missile blitz in 2022.
Mr Wallace said lawyers told him the European Convention on Human Rights made it illegal to hand over any suspects to Syria due to the risk of torture.
But they could also not be taken to Britain because there was no extradition treaty with the Assad regime.
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Sunday Times letters: RAF's inability to protect its own bases
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