Britain said on Tuesday it was authorizing spy planes and armed drones to fly surveillance missions over Syria "very shortly" to gather intelligence on Islamic State (IS) militants.
Michael Fallon, the defense minister, said both Reaper drones and Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft would fly over Syria as part of "efforts to protect our national security from the terrorist threat emanating from there."
But in a written statement to parliament, he stressed that Reapers would not be allowed to use their weapons in Syria, something he said would require "further permission." A defense ministry spokeswoman was unable to immediately clarify whether that meant ministerial approval or a vote in parliament.
Fallon announced last week that Britain was deploying armed Reaper drones to the Middle East to conduct air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq.
Parliament voted to approve air strikes against IS in Iraq last month, after a request from the Iraqi government, but Britain isn't conducting air strikes in Syria. It has previously said such strikes would require fresh parliamentary approval.
On the field:
Islamic State won territory from Syrian government forces in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor on Tuesday, its first gain there in about two months, a group that tracks the civil war reported.
Fighters from both sides were killed during the clashes in Deir al-Zor city, about 450 km (280 miles) northeast of Damascus in a province bordering Iraq, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said without giving a death toll.
Islamic State, which is being targeted by U.S.-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria, seized large areas of Deir al-Zor's industrial region, meaning it now controls more than half the city, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory.
The Islamist militant group, which is also battling Kurdish forces for control of the town of Kobani at the Turkish border, brought reinforcements to Deir al-Zor in recent days, Abdulrahman said.
The U.S. air force dropped arms to Kurds defending Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, on Monday. Washington has ruled out such cooperation with the government of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
REUTERS
To watch Dalal Abou Haydar's report, please click on the video above.