Strongest blows to ISIL: British planes bombed oil fields in Syria

British planes successfully hit oil fields in eastern Syria on Thursday, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said, hours after parliament approved airstrikes on the Islamic State in Syria, reports the Patria News Agency.

"Yesterday I authorized a series of targets on the Omar oil fields... Tornado planes were successful in hitting those targets," Fallon told the BBC.

Fallon said the Ministry of Defense would provide an assessment of the damage later, but stressed that the goal was to deliver a strong blow to the oil business and oil revenues on which ISIL depends. 

He added that Britain is sending eight more bombers to Cyprus, from where they will participate in further attacks on ISIL in Syria.

British bombers carried out their first airstrikes on Syria early Thursday morning, just hours after parliament approved Prime Minister David Cameron's plan to attack the Islamic State (ISIL) in that country.

The attack occurred just hours after British MPs voted in favor of airstrikes in Syria. After a 10-hour debate, 397 MPs supported Cameron's plan, while 223 were against it.

Four Tornado planes took off from a base in Cyprus for the operation shortly after the vote. 

Prime Minister Cameron asked parliament on Wednesday to approve British airstrikes against Islamic State jihadists in Syria, after months of wrangling over whether enough opposition Labour MPs would support the action.

Great Britain is already participating in bombing ISIL positions in Iraq, and MPs have now decided that London will also join airstrikes in Syria as part of the US-led coalition, writes Index.