ANKARA
The U.K. is considering possible airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, a week after 30 British citizens were gunned down in Tunisia, British defense secretary said Thursday.
“We know that ISIL [Daesh] is organized and directed from northern Syria," British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the U.K. Parliament.
During his speech, Fallon recalled British Prime Minister David Cameron’s comments in September last year, when he said: "There is a strong case for us to do more in Syria."
But, the defense secretary said that the government would “not bring a motion to this house on which there is not some consensus”.
Although the government could move ahead with airstrikes on Syria on its own, Fallon said it “would return to this house before conducting airstrikes in Syria”.
The Labor Party’s acting leader, Harriet Harman, indicated that his party would not block airstrikes on Daesh targets in Syria, about two years after they blocked anti-Bashar al-Assad regime airstrikes.
Harman said that the situation now was different. Back in 2013, the British government had requested the parliament’s support to take part in possible airstrikes against Assad following alleged chemical attacks on the Syrian population. However, the British parliament had refused to support the move.
Harman now said that Daesh had to be stopped, and added that the Labor Party would consider seriously any proposal about possible airstrikes on the militant organization.
The discussion for airstrikes on Daesh comes after the deadly Friday attacks in Tunisia where an alleged Daesh gunman opened fire at a holiday resort, killing 38 people of which 30 were confirmed British citizens.
In a tweet posted Thursday, U.K. Secretary of State Philip Hammond said: “All 30 British victims of Tunisia attack now positively identified by police. By tonight 17 will have been brought home to their loved ones.”
