Australian war planes carry out first airstrike in Syria

Australian fighter jets have carried out their first bombing runs on Islamic State targets in Syria.

Defence Minister Kevin Andrews said the aircraft destroyed an ISIL armoured personnel carrier with a precision guided missile.

‘Two days ago we carried out our first successful strike against ISIL over eastern Syria,’ he told Neil Mitchell.

‘One of our hornets located and targeted an armoured vehicle carrier and successfully launched a guided missile against it.

‘We can’t be sure if and how many people were in the personnel carrier, but if they were, they were certainly killed.’

There are six Australian hornet fighters, an air-to-air refueller and wedgetail aircraft in the Middle East.

Mr Andrews said he didn’t believe there was any crossfire or counter-attack encountered by Australian forces.

‘Our planes are mainly over northern Iraq they are now going over eastern Syria as well, they are going almost daily,’ he said.

‘They fly at a height that is generally out of the way of most things that could be fired at them.’

LISTEN: Defence Minister Kevin Andrews on 3AW Mornings