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Elite British and US special forces troops are forming a hunter killer unit called Task Force Black – its orders: “Smash the Islamic State.”

The undercover warriors will aim to “cut the head off the snake” by hitting the command structure of the Islamist terror group responsible for a trail of atrocities across Iraq and Syria, reports the Sunday People.

PM David Cameron has told the SAS and UK spy agencies to direct all their ­resources at defeating IS after a video of US journalist James Foley being beheaded shocked the world.

British special forces will work with America’s Delta Force and Seal Team 6. The move sees a rebirth of top secret Task Force Black, which helped defeat al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq .

This time the counter-terrorist ­experts will be targeting Abu Bakr ­al-Baghdadi, leader of IS and now the world’s most wanted terrorist.

A source said: “We need to go into Syria and Iraq and kill as many IS members as we can. You can’t ­negotiate with these people.

“This is not a war of choice. They are cash rich and have a plentiful ­supply of arms. If we don’t go after them, they will soon come after us.

(Image: Getty)

“In Iraq, Task Force Black was carrying out strike operations every night.

"It was an unrelenting, intelligence-led assault on al-Qaeda. It took a lot of hard work and no small amount of sacrifice – but it worked.

“Defeating IS cannot be done by air strikes alone. You have to get on the ground and take out the commanders – cut off the snake’s head.

“The organisation will then begin to collapse. IS targets civilians and has yet to get into a real fight with a ­modern Western military.

“The SAS and US special forces will do untold damage to them.

“They’ll focus on the high command. This is going to be a long campaign, probably lasting years.

“And it will be like nothing the West has ever had to confront before.”

The new task force will comprise a squadron of the SAS, special forces aircrews from the RAF and agents from MI5 and MI6.

The operation will be led by America’s CIA spy agency.

One of the first jobs will be to identify the British Muslim shown on an IS video released last week apparently cutting Foley’s head off with a knife.

UK intelligence sources confirmed that the killer, believed to be a British-born Pakistani from London, is already at the top of a CIA “kill list”.

The bloodthirsty thug, dubbed “Jailer John”, was one of a brutal trio of Britons nicknamed “The Beatles” who guard IS kidnap victims.

Former IS captives said up to 20 foreigners are being held by IS.

The joint US/British unit will ­conduct strike operations against IS in both Syria and Iraq.

Troops will also train Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.

Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama are determined not to send large numbers of ground troops, so the use of small teams of special forces working with local militias is their only option.

Downing Street has revealed that Britain will send “non-lethal” equipment including night-vision equipment and body armour to Kurdish fighters this week.

Work has already begun creating a network of spies and informers who will supply Task Force Black with ­high-grade human intelligence.

British and US spy planes will eavesdrop on ­mobile phone calls and pinpoint the location of IS commanders.

Operations will also be mounted to snatch middle-ranking IS commanders for interrogation by CIA analysts.

US Navy Seals showed that intelligence gathered over years can be used to mount a kill operation when they shot dead Osama bin Laden in 2011.

The new task force plans similar surprise attacks in which ­sophisticated “silent” helicopters land troops.

The SAS, Seals and Delta Force worked together on many operations in Afghanistan and share intelligence.

One source said: “Intelligence will be key to our operations. We have to build a network to defeat a network.

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"The brutal tactics of IS mean a lot of people want to see them gone.

“They have people fighting for them who are too frightened to leave.

"Young men joined IS believing they were fighting tyranny but what they saw was mass executions and beheadings.

“The CIA will offer them money and a new life – but they’ll have to deliver information first.”

There are also moves to revive a defunct Iraqi special forces unit called the Apostles, which was ­created by the first Task Force Black a­fter the Iraq War.

Meanwhile Mr Cameron is under growing pressure over an alleged failure to deal with home-grown radicals.

Pictures of him surfing in Cornwall at the height of the crisis are said to have raised eyebrows even in his Cabinet.

Politicians of all parties urged action to stop radicalisation of young British Muslims and tougher restrictions on those ­peddling extremist views.

And there were renewed calls for security services to get greater powers to monitor extremists online.

It emerged that recommendations to toughen controls made five months ago by David Anderson QC, the Government’s own adviser on terrorism laws, have yet to be acted on.

In another move, Lieutenant General Sir Simon Mayall, the Government’s senior defence adviser on the Middle East, is being sent to liaise with Kurdish commanders.