Almost £800 million has been spent by the Ministry of Defence fighting Islamic State over the past three years, new figures show.

This includes £469.4 million in the 2016/17 financial year, according to figures released to Parliament.

The statistics, released in a written parliamentary answer from defence minister Earl Howe, show counter- Daesh operations cost £262.4 million the year before and £47.2 million in 2014/15.

These are net additional costs that the MoD would not otherwise have incurred but for the operations, Lord Howe said.

The figures emerged as Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the UK would continue striking terrorist targets until Islamic State had been driven out of Iraq and Syria.

A collapsed building due to fighting in Raqqa's old city in Syria, once an ISIS stronghold (
Image:
REUTERS)

It also comes amid mounting concern over threats to civilians, as ministers said they "must accept the risk of inadvertent civilian casualties" as Islamic State is driven from its last remaining strongholds.

An MoD spokesman said: "Since October 2014 the UK has conducted over 1,600 air strikes against Daesh in Iraq and Syria and trained over 57,000 members of the Iraqi and peshmerga security forces, as well as providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to the coalition.

"The total net cost of operations against Daesh in Iraq and Syria is £779 million, which includes operational allowances, accommodation and feeding support for the thousands of personnel who have served on Operation Shader, as well as costs associated with air operations including fuel and precision guided munitions. "

A parade of ISIS fighters in Raqqa in June 2014 (
Image:
REUTERS)

The UK is part of a global coalition fighting the terror group, with Britain's military contribution second only to the United States.

Separate MoD figures suggest that to the end of July, RAF strikes have killed an estimated 2,684 Islamic State militants in Iraq since 2014, with another 410 killed in Syria since 2015.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed coalition of several militia factions, announced on Tuesday that military operations in Raqqa have ended and that their fighters have taken full control of the Syrian city.

Raqqa had served as the capital of Islamic State's so-called "caliphate" since 2014, and had been under the group's control for more than three-and-a-half years.

Sir Michael said: "Well the end is clearly very near now in Raqqa itself, but the RAF will continue to strike terrorist targets right along the Euphrates Valley until we are sure we have got rid of Daesh from both Iraq and Syria, because only that way can we be sure of reducing the threat to us here in Britain and western Europe."

More than 3.3 million Iraqis have been displaced since 2014, according to the UN Refugee Agency (
Image:
REUTERS)

There has been growing concern about the risk of civilian casualties as Islamic State is driven from its last remaining strongholds in the region.

Answering a separate parliamentary question, defence minister Mark Lancaster said: "As operations in Iraq and Syria have intensified we are seeing increasing evidence of Daesh's callous disregard for human life, their unwillingness to allow civilians to leave their homes and in some cases their deliberate attempts to use civilians to shield fighters from coalition strikes.

"This is why we must accept the risk of inadvertent civilian casualties.

"Rigorous coalition targeting processes take into account the conditions on the ground, including the potential presence of a civilian population.

"Reports of civilian casualties are and will continue to be taken very seriously. The coalition investigates all credible claims and the results of any investigation are published."