Tri-Service
Reports: British Special Forces Blow Up Daesh Suicide Trucks
British Special Forces have reportedly used a missile to destroy an explosive-laden Daesh truck in Libya.
It's the first evidence that UK soldiers have a frontline combat role against the group in the country, according to the Times.
The attack, which helped Libyan militias to stop terrorists advancing on the strategic city of Misrata, is said to have prompted claims from MPs that parliament is being bypassed over Britain's role in the civil war. Commander Mohammed Durat, a commander of troops in the city, said:
"My unit works just with the English. I have met with them personally and they have destroyed two suicide vehicles that were targeting my fighters."
He added that local fighters were fleeing a vehicle which they thought was about to explode on a bridge to Misrata earlier this month when British forces intervened.
Either the Special Air Service or Special Boat Service is thought to have used a Javelin missile to destroy the truck.
The Ministry of Defence said it does not comment on the Special Forces.
Daesh has capitalised on the political instability in Libya since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi
It comes after reports last month that several hundred SAS and SBS personnel were in Iraq and Libya, alongside their French and US counterparts, advising local forces and preparing to launch attacks against Daesh.
Britain and the other four permanent UN Security Council members said last week that they are ready to supply arms to the country’s fledgling unity government in Tripoli in an effort to curb the rise of the extremist group.
A Foreign Office spokesman said last month, meanwhile, that there are no plans to deploy combat troops and that planning has been focused on training Libyan security forces to provide their own security.
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