A BRITISH jihadist fanatic who plotted to blow up the Queen has been wiped out in an RAF drone strike in Syria, David Cameron announced today.
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Raqqah last month, the Prime Minister revealed.
Two other Islamist fighters - including British-born Ruhul Amin, from Birmingham - were also killed when their vehicle was hit by a precision missile.
The strike, on August 21, was the first time that a British drone aircraft has been used to kill enemy targets in a territory where UK Armed Forces are not directly involved in combat operations.
And Mr Cameron insisted he sanctioned the unprecedented military action in response threats of massive terrorist outrages on British soil.
“We took this action because there was no alternative,” the Prime Minister told a hushed House of Commons this afternoon.
“We were exercising the UK’s inherent right to self defence,” he said.
Another British-born jihadist involved in plotting terrorist outrages in the UK, 21-year-old Junaid Hussein, was killed in a US airstrike in Raqqah three days later, MPs were told.
They were understood to be linked to a plot to detonate a massive bomb at the commemoration in London to mark the 70th anniversary of VJ (Victory in Japan) Day, the end of the Second World War.
The Queen, Prince Charles and other senior members of the Royal Family were among dignitaries at the ceremony held in Whitehall.
MI5 agents thwarted the assassination plot, which involved the planned detonation of a massive pressure cooker bomb capable of causing hundreds of casualties.
The ISIS terrorists were also though to have plotted to attack an annual Armed Forces Day event in London over the summer.
Both plots were among six attempts to launch major terrorist outrages in Britain over the last 12 months that have been thwarted by police and the security services, the Prime Minister said.
AFPWe were exercising the UK’s inherent right to self defence
He discussed the threat with senior members of his National Security Council, agreeing to use a remote control aircraft over Syrian territory.
Once the vehicle carrying Khan and other fighters was identified near Raqqah, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon gave the order for the drone to attack.
Mr Cameron insisted the strike was within international law even though Parliament has not voted in favour of military action by Britain’s Armed Forces in Syria.
“My first duty as prime minister is to keep the British people safe,” the Prime Minister said.
“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 Prime Minister told MPs.
GETTY“We should be under no illusion. Their intention was the murder of British citizens. So on this occasion we ourselves took action.”
No civilians were injured in the drone attack, the Prime Minister told MPs.
“I am clear that the action we took was entirely lawful.
“The Attorney General was consulted and was clear there would be a clear legal basis for action in international law,” he said.
“There was clear evidence of the individuals in question planning and directing armed attacks against the UK.
“These were part of a series of actual and foiled attempts to attack the UK and our allies.
“And in the prevailing circumstances in Syria, the airstrike was the only feasible means of effectively disrupting the attacks planned and directed by this individual.
“So it was necessary and proportionate for the individual self-defence of the UK.”
Mr Cameron also warned that the direct threat to the UK from ISIS was “growing”. There were 15 ISIS-related incidents around the world in 2014 but already 150 such incidents have been recorded this year.
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