THE SNP will vote against the UK bombing in Syria as Nicola Sturgeon fears it could help rather than hinder the terrorists.

The party’s 54 MPs will oppose Prime Minister, David Cameron, who wants to send UK planes to take part in bombing terror group Islamic State targets in the country.

Ms Sturgeon said she and her party had listened carefully to the Prime Minister’s arguments but concluded the case had not been made for the UK joining others including the USA, Russia and France in bombing raids.

She said: “The real danger in our judgement is that a military intervention that results in civilian casualties and more chaos on the ground in Syria ends up, albeit entirely inadvertently, helping rather than hindering Daesh.”

Ms Sturgeon said that she agreed entirely with the threat presented by the terrorists but that the disagreement was on how best to deal with it.

She said: “I agree with much of the analysis about the threat that Isil, Daesh, whatever we want to call them. Evil death cult I think is perhaps the most appropriate language.

I don’t dispute the serious and very real threat they pose to people here, in Scotland, the UK as a whole and right across Europe. This is a judgement about how best to tackle that threat.”

She said the issue was on strategy and that bombing form the air is not enough on its own.

She added: “I think it is generally accepted, even by the Prime Minister, that air strikes alone will not deal with the problem we are seeking to deal with in Syria, but the question has not been answered who on the ground both the intelligence that minimises civilian casualties and then who on the ground occupies and governs the territory vacated by Isil.”

MPs will vote in the House of Commons, with Mr Cameron expecting to secure a majority for the UK to join the USA and France in air strikes.

Labour MPs will have a free vote and while party leader Jeremy Corbyn is against taking action many are expected to vote in favour.

Ms Sturgeon said the SNP parliamentary group has agreed a “collective decision” which she said everyone was happy with.

She stopped short of calling on the other countries already engaged in the air over Syria to cease their operation but repeated he belief that air strikes were not the answer.

She said: “Every country will have to take its own decisions on this and I would not presume to do that.

“Different countries have different circumstances I’ve clearly said that I question the efficacy of the air strike campaign and I question the efficacy of adding UK air strikes to that campaign.”