London, Aug 4 (IANS): British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has reiterated his country's determination to continue strikes against the Islamic State (IS) terror group in Iraq for an additional year, media reported.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado mission is due to extend till March 2017, BBC reported on Tuesday.

"RAF Tornados have carried out hundreds of strikes, helping Iraqi forces push back IS from the Kurdish region and out of key towns such as Tikrit and Bayji," Fallon said.

"We want to ensure we maintain this crucial operational tempo and so we will extend the lifetime of Number 12 Squadron for a further year to March 2017."

"We want to ensure we maintain this crucial operational tempo," Fallon added, ruling out the possibility of ground troops joining the fight.

Britain launched air-strikes against the IS in September 2014.

Air strikes against IS are currently restricted to Iraq and parliamentary approval would be needed for them to be extended to Syria.