UK drone strike to be investigated by MPs

MPs are to investigate the "intelligence basis" for a UK drone strike which killed two British Islamic State jihadists in Syria.

The Intelligence and Security Committee said it would not be assessing the legality of the strike, saying this was a matter for Parliament and Number 10.

The government has described the strike as "an act of self defence".

Meanwhile, the Joint Committee on Human Rights has announced a separate inquiry into "government drone strikes".

Reyaad Khan, 21, from Cardiff, and Ruhul Amin, from Aberdeen, were killed in a precision strike in Raqqa by a remotely piloted aircraft on 21 August.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the men were linked to so-called Islamic State and had been planning terrorist attacks on UK soil.

The RAF strike was the first targeted UK drone attack on a British citizen.

Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, said an "immediate priority" was to look at the intelligence behind the strike.

He said it was "mindful" that the committee "can't look at issues that concern current operations" but he hoped it would be able to start its work "as soon as possible".

Explaining its terms of reference, he said: "It would not be the legality or the political decision making [of the strike] - that is a matter for Parliament and Number 10.

"What we can and will want to look at is the intelligence that underpinned the decision that this was a strike that had to be carried out.

"We should be in a position to get that information."

'Kill policy'

The RAF strike in Syria is being legally challenged by Green Party parliamentarians Caroline Lucas MP and Baroness Jones, who claim "targeted killing" is unlawful.

Welcoming the Human Right's Committee inquiry, Ms Lucas said: "I'm glad our challenge has pushed this issue up the political agenda.

"This inquiry must urgently work to clarify the legal framework in which the UK is acting. In the meantime the government should suspend its targeted kill policy."