Syria airstrikes: Bombing campaign could be playing into Isis's hands, Liberal Democrats warn

Government reveals that UK pilots are striking Syria despite MPs' wishes

Smoke rises following an air strike by the US-led coalition in Kobani, last October (Getty) (Getty Images)

Britain could be playing into Isis's hands by bombing Syria, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats has said.

Tim Farron raised concerns about a revelation that British pilots embedded with other nations’ forces were conducting air strikes on Syria despite MPs voting against action in 2013.

He argued that the suffering caused by such strikes could lead people to support terror groups such as the so-called ‘Islamic State’.

Tim Farron, the party's new leader (Getty Images)

“The decisions you make there are not based on some overall theological sense of what you should do but on what is right,” he said.

“Is it right for us to attack a sovereign country? Is it right for us to overstep a mandate that we have not been given by the electorate or government? Is it right to incite ISIS, or indeed not to incite them – but to play into their hands and be martyrs.”

In response to a freedom of information request from the human rights group Reprive, the Ministry of Defence disclosed that US, French and Canadian armed forces were deploying UK pilots in Syria.

Jennifer Gibson, staff attorney at Reprieve, said the debate about UK action in the Middle East needed to be more "open and honest".

"It is alarming that Parliament and the public have been kept in the dark about this for so long," she said.

An explosion following an air-strike is seen in the Syrian town of Kobani (Reuters)

"Yet more worrying is the fact that the UK seems to have turned over its personnel to the US wholesale, without the slightest idea as to what they are actually doing, and whether it is legal."

An MoD spokesperson said the so-called Islamic State group was a threat to the UK and clarified the position of the British pilots.

“UK embeds operate as if they were the host nation's personnel, under that nation's chain of command,”

“Isil poses a direct threat to the UK and to countries around the world. The UK is not conducting airstrikes in Syria and the government has made clear it would return to Parliament if it proposed doing so.

“We have a long-standing embed programme with allies but there are currently no pilots taking part in this region. When embedded, UK personnel are effectively operating as foreign troops.”

The Independent’s Defence Correspondent Kim Sengupta explained that the revelation could have undermined trust in the Government.

“Military chiefs have long felt that it made no tactical sense to carry out strikes against Isis in Iraq but not in Syria with the border between the two countries porous, forming one arena. The defence secretary, Michael Fallon, also feels the same way," he said.

“A Commons vote to extend the operation to Syria from Iraq is now very likely to succeed. But the way this has happened, the military action being undertaken by British air crews embedded with allied states, makes the UK government look underhand and incompetent. The government could have ensured, if it wanted to, that these air crews did not take part in Syria missions, or, alternatively, sought a Commons mandate."

British warplanes are already openly taking part in airstrikes in Iraq. Bombers conduct sorties from bases in Cyprus.

Mr Farron was elected Liberal Democrat leader yesterday and was being interview on BBC Radio 4’s Toady programme. He now leads the party’s group of eight remaining MPs.