Footage has been released of RAF jets leaving Cyprus to take part in the missile attack this morning on Syria.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) film shows RAF Tornado jets on their way to target suspected chemical weapons facilities in the Middle East country at around 1am on Saturday morning.

Four jets were deployed as part of joint military intervention between London, Washington and Paris, who have accused Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad of carrying out a chemical weapons attack on Douma, a formerly rebel-held town in the Syrian region of Eastern Ghouta.

RAF jets take off from Cyprus base ahead of joint military intervention in Syria (
Image:
REUTERS)
Navigator climbs into cockpit before take-off (
Image:
PA)

An orange blaze glares in the night pitch black sky as the jets scrambled from the Akrotiri RAF military base in Cyprus.

The jets were equipped with Storm Shadows, deadly precision missiles weighing 900lbs each and with the capacity to travel as far as 250 miles.

The MoD said the missiles targeted a former missile base 15 miles west of Homs, where it is thought the Assad regime has been stockpiling items used to make chemical weapons.

An orange blaze from the Tornadoes lit the night sky (
Image:
REUTERS)
A pilot checks deadly precision weapons as force readies for strike (
Image:
PA)

“Very careful scientific analysis was applied to determine where best to target the Storm Shadows to maximise the destruction of the stockpiled chemicals and to minimise any risks of contamination to the surrounding are,”a the MoD said in a statement.

Pro-Assad officials say around 30 missiles were fired at Syria during the attack, a third of which were shot down with defence canons. They claim three civilians were killed in the attack.

The jets carried deadly precision missiles targeting suspected chemical weapons facilities in Syria (
Image:
PA)

PM Theresa May said the strikes were “limited” and successful.

She said Britain had no other alternative than to intervene against the use of chemical weapons, and that the strikes were “right and legal”.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, however, contests the Tory leader’s claims saying the military force is “legally questionable” as the PM failed to hold a parliamentary vote beforehand.

French fighter jets were also deployed as part of the US-led intervention (
Image:
REUTERS)
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Footage of French planes taking off ahead of the military action has also come to surface.

A video released by the French Presidency shows Rafale warplanes reading for the mission, although it is not clear if they took off from a military base or an aircraft carrier.