British fighter jets have been deployed from Akrotiri bases in Cyprus to help with Israel’s defence against Iran’s attack, it emerged in the early hours of Sunday morning.
UK sources confirmed to the Cyprus Mail fighter jets departed from Cyprus – but could not immediately confirm how many and when.
Flightradar24 showed Airbus KC2 Voyager departed at 11:09pm. The destination was not publicly available.
U.S. and British warplanes have downed some Israel-bound Iranian drones over the Iraq-Syria border area, Israel’s top-rated Channel 12 TV reported early on Sunday without citing sources.
Israel’s military said more than 100 drones, which Iraqi security sources said were seen flying over the country from Iran, would take hours to reach their targets. Israeli Channel 12 said some had been shot down over Syria or Jordan.
Iran‘s state news agency cited a source saying its military had also launched a first wave of ballistic missiles against Israel.
Iran has vowed retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April 1 that killed seven Guards officers including two senior commanders and said its strike was a punishment for “Israeli crimes”. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the consulate attack.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who on Friday warned Iran against attacking Israel after saying such a scenario appeared imminent, has pledged to stand with Israel against Iran.