LONDON (AP) — Britain's top law enforcement official says it is legal to kill militants overseas if they pose an immediate or otherwise unstoppable threat.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright is using a speech Wednesday to lay out the legal basis for the use of lethal force. Excerpts were released in advance.

A Royal Air Force drone strike in Syria killed three Islamic State group fighters in 2015, including two Britons. It was the first such strike acknowledged by the British government.

Wright says "technology has made it easier for terrorists to carry out attacks" that the criminal justice system doesn't always have time to stop.

He says Britain "will only act in self-defense, where it is consistent with international law."

But he says judging where the legal threshold is has grown more complex.