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A total of 330 Islamic State group fighters are estimated to have been killed by UK air force strikes in Iraq said the defence secretary, reported the BBC .

Michael Fallon said the figure was approximated because there were no UK troops on the ground to confirm the campaign's impact.

He also said no civilians were believed to have been killed in the strikes.

Fallon was responding to a parliamentary question by Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP.

The UK began taking part in airstrikes against targets in Iraq a year ago, after being approved by MPs. Two years earlier British MPs had rejected UK military action in Syria.

The government is expected to start making plans in the next few weeks for missile strikes against IS targets in Syria.

Two British IS jihadists were killed by an RAF drone strike in the IS-stronghold of Raqqa in Syria in August.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said that the drone attack was a lawful act of self-defence because they had been plotting "barbaric" attacks on UK soil.