{British special forces troops are poised to launch a lethal two-pronged strike against Islamic State in Iraq and Libya within weeks.}

Several hundred SAS and SBS troops are in each country and they have joined forces with their French and US counterparts.

American B-52 bombers flew into a secret Qatar base days ago to prepare for aerial attacks on the terrorists’ position in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Sources have said that military planners have earmarked the SAS , leading about 70,000 Iraqi and Kurdish troops, for an assault on the IS-held city.

Special forces have carried out missions in Iraq for years and teams on the ground will be equipped with emergency chemical warfare clothing.

They will also help co-ordinate the B-52 attacks and report on bomb damage.

Meanwhile RAF Tornado bombers and Typhoon fighters will fly from Cyprus to smash fleeing IS vehicles or stop reinforcements reaching Mosul.

The attack may also cut off IS forces from their Syrian stronghold in Raqqa.

In a matter of weeks, air strikes – some launched by RAF fighter bombers – have killed more than 25,000 IS jihadis in Iraq and Syria.

IS has been attacked across northern Iraq, losing its key city of Ramadi west of Baghdad in recent weeks.

A senior source said: “Our people [UK special forces] have been at the forefront in dismantling IS across northern Iraq and Syria and are already preparing the ground for the battle to recapture Mosul.”

British SBS commandos, who have been in Libya for many months, will co-ordinate assaults against IS, which has more than 5,000 fighters at Sirte on the coast and has attacked oilfields.

An SBS task force will identify targets for Predator drone strikes and F-15 Strike Eagle fighters, which are on permanent readiness to deploy as they did in February when they eliminated a top al-Qaeda commander.

The extremists, who have already been targeted by US psychological warfare specialists, are preparing to wage jihad across North Africa and secure more land to expand their “caliphate”.

The simultaneous attacks on Iraq and Libya are designed to cause maximum impact and disruption against IS to capitalise on its losses in northern Iraq.

A senior source said: “The Coalition air campaign is crushing Islamic State.

“The aim now is to get into Mosul, capture Raqqa and at the same time strike at Sirte in Libya, so there is no escape.”