Moment ISIS sniper is taken out by a drone
An Islamic State sniper being hit by a drone strike has been caught on camera in a rare insiders view into how key extremist targets are identified and eliminated by British Intelligence.
The sniper captured in the video - released by the UK's Ministry of Defence - was positioned overlooking a crowd being forced to watch a public killing in the IS held town of Abu Kamal in eastern Syria.
The footage shows that the strike, done by an RAF Reaper drone, is so precise that only a corner of the roof is damaged.
The strike was authorised by a team at a RAF command centre 3200km away in Waddington in Lincolnshire, where key targets are idenfitied and decisions are taken to eliminate them.
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"What we have seen recently is a number of key individuals who are enabling, directly, attacks in Europe, including the UK, that we’ve been able to go out and we’ve been able take them out," Senior Raf Officer Johnny Stringer told the UK's Sky News.
"It's a complicated war where decisions have to be taken quickly."
He revealed that the UK had taken out Britons in secret missions to stop specific attacks on home soil.
An Intelligence Officer - who has to remain anonymous - told Sky News: "the more they can target the west, clearly the better their own propaganda".
"As the physical battle space decreases yes, you eliminate or you severely degrade their ability to conduct planning from a physical sense," the officer said.
"They have to then turn to the virtual environment where you get pockets of people basically operating as lone actors rather than a coordinated effort.
"'Look what we can do’ versus very capable enemies in their case so it’s two-pronged really.
"Yes you’re degrading where they’re doing it and what they’re able to do but you also need to kind of keep up with these lone actor attacks as well."
