British lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to join anti-jihadist air strikes in Iraq.
The House of Commons on Friday voted by a majority of 524 to 43 after the main political parties all approved military action saying that "lessons from the past" of the 2003 Iraq war had been learned.
"This is not a threat on the far side of the world. Left unchecked, we will face a terrorist caliphate on the shores of the Mediterranean," Prime Minister David Cameron said ahead of the vote.
He warned the campaign could last for "years" as dissenting MPs in the debate questioned the duration and scope of the operation.
Washington is eager to build the broadest possible coalition to tackle IS, which has captured large areas of Syria and Iraq and declared an Islamic "caliphate".
Britain's Royal Air Force would join warplanes from the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan hitting IS targets.
Following the vote, British action is expected within days at the latest despite planned anti-war protests.
Britain and France have both been careful to rule out launching strikes in Syria at the hub of the IS group's power, unlike the Arab allies taking part in the aerial campaign.
"I do believe there's a strong case for us to do more in Syria but I did not want to bring a motion to the house today which there wasn't consensus for," Cameron said on Friday.
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