英國空軍完成首次伊拉克戰鬥任務

British RAF aircraft have completed their first combat mission against Islamist militants in northern Iraq, without carrying out any air strikes.

英國皇家空軍(RAF)戰機已完成針對伊拉克北部伊斯蘭主義武裝分子的首個戰鬥任務，沒有進行任何空中打擊。

Two Tornado GR4 bombers supported by a Voyager air-to-air refuelling aircraft were reported to have taken off from RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus on Saturday morning and returned to base in the afternoon.

據報道，兩架狂風(Tornado) GR4戰鬥轟炸機在一架航行者(Voyager)空中加油機的支援下，週六早晨從位於塞浦路斯的皇家空軍阿克羅蒂裏基地(RAF Akrotiri)起飛，下午返回基地。

The defence ministry said: “Although on this occasion no targets were identified as requiring immediate air attack by our aircraft, the intelligence gathered by the Tornados’ highly sophisticated surveillance equipment will be invaluable.”

英國國防部(MoD)表示：“雖然此次任務期間沒有目標被確定爲需要我軍戰機立即遂行空襲，但狂風的尖端監視設備所收集的情報將是非常寶貴的。”

The MoD made clear that the aircraft had been ready to be used in an attack role if appropriate targets had been identified.

國防部明確表示，這些戰機準備好執行攻擊任務——只要有合適的打擊目標。

“For operational security reasons we will not be providing a running commentary on movements; we will provide an update on activity when it is appropriate to do so.”

“出於作戰安全原因，我們將不對相關動態作實況報導；我們將在適當時候介紹最新消息。”

British forces headed back into Iraq four years after ending their last mission there after MPs voted on Friday to back air strikes against Islamist militants .

議員們週五投票通過空襲伊斯蘭主義武裝分子後，英軍重返離開了四年的伊拉克。

The Commons decided by 524 votes to 43 to support the move, a majority of 481, reflecting the consensus across the three main parties for action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis. In doing so, they ensured the UK joined a growing alliance of countries helping the US in its campaign against the militants, which includes five Arab states as well as several European countries.

英國下議院以524票贊成，43票反對的結果支持這項行動，贊成票超過反對票481張之多，反映英國三大政黨在對“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)採取軍事行動上形成共識。由此，他們保證了英國加入幫助美國打擊武裝分子行動的國家聯盟，這個越來越大的聯盟包括5個阿拉伯國家和多個歐洲國家。

The decision comes at the request of Haider al-Abadi, the Iraqi prime minister, which the government advice said gave the war a legal basis. The UK will launch missiles within days, according to government officials. However, it will for the time being only commit six Tornado warplanes to the fight, one fewer than the number of fighter jets being sent by Denmark.

該決定是受了伊拉克總理海德爾•阿巴迪(Haider al-Abadi)之邀，因此英國政府提供的法律建議是，這爲戰爭提供了法律依據。根據英國政府官員表示，英國將在幾天內發射導彈。但英國暫時只承諾出動6架狂風戰機，比丹麥派出的戰機數量還少1架。