by Emily Straton and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, London
4 minutes ago
Khan, 21, had been plotting "barbaric" attacks on UK soil, he said.
The action was lawful and necessary, Mr Cameron said, despite MPs previously ruling out UK military action in Syria.
In a statement to the Commons, Mr Cameron said: "My first duty as prime minister is to keep the British people safe.
"There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop him.
"This government does not for one moment take these decisions lightly.
"But I am not prepared to stand here in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on our streets and have to explain to the House why I did not take the chance to prevent it when I could have done."
The vote confined that military action to Iraq, but at the time the prime minister told MPs he "reserved the right" to act elsewhere "if there were a critical British national interest at stake".
The government will argue the air strike on Reyaad Khan was such a case. But carrying out an RAF airstrike in Syria will still be controversial; even more so because a British citizen was targeted.
Though government officials insist that he posed a direct threat to the UK and was on a legitimate "target list", there'll be plenty of questions. What was the intelligence on which the decision was based? Who's target list was he on?
There are reports the CIA has compiled a list of high-value targets. There will inevitably be some suspicion around the secrecy - the MOD has never publically stated how many Reapers the RAF are operating or where they're based.
The fact that RAF Reapers have been flying over Syria is not in itself a surprise. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told MPs last October they would be conducting surveillance missions.
But in a written statement he also stated: "Reapers are not authorised to use weapons in Syria; that would require further permission."
4 minutes ago
Two
British fighters with so-called Islamic State were killed by an RAF
drone strike in Syria in an "act of self-defence", David Cameron has
said.
Cardiff-born Reyaad Khan was targeted in Raqqa on 21 August
and died alongside Ruhul Amin, from Aberdeen, and another fighter, the
PM told MPs.Khan, 21, had been plotting "barbaric" attacks on UK soil, he said.
The action was lawful and necessary, Mr Cameron said, despite MPs previously ruling out UK military action in Syria.
In a statement to the Commons, Mr Cameron said: "My first duty as prime minister is to keep the British people safe.
"There was a terrorist directing murder on our streets and no other means to stop him.
"This government does not for one moment take these decisions lightly.
"But I am not prepared to stand here in the aftermath of a terrorist attack on our streets and have to explain to the House why I did not take the chance to prevent it when I could have done."
Analysis
By BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale
Unmanned Reaper drones joined RAF Tornado jets in conducting surveillance and air strikes soon after Parliament authorised military action against the group calling itself Islamic State last September.The vote confined that military action to Iraq, but at the time the prime minister told MPs he "reserved the right" to act elsewhere "if there were a critical British national interest at stake".
The government will argue the air strike on Reyaad Khan was such a case. But carrying out an RAF airstrike in Syria will still be controversial; even more so because a British citizen was targeted.
Though government officials insist that he posed a direct threat to the UK and was on a legitimate "target list", there'll be plenty of questions. What was the intelligence on which the decision was based? Who's target list was he on?
There are reports the CIA has compiled a list of high-value targets. There will inevitably be some suspicion around the secrecy - the MOD has never publically stated how many Reapers the RAF are operating or where they're based.
The fact that RAF Reapers have been flying over Syria is not in itself a surprise. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told MPs last October they would be conducting surveillance missions.
But in a written statement he also stated: "Reapers are not authorised to use weapons in Syria; that would require further permission."
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