U.K. Launches First Strikes Against ISIS in Iraq
Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah
Oct 01, 2014
The United Kingdom launched its first airstrikes against ISIS since parliament approved military action Friday.
British fighter planes on had launched their first airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) positions in Iraq on Tuesday, targeting a weapon position and armed truck.
“Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft have been in action over Iraq today in the fight against ISIL,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This action is part of the international coalition’s operations to support the democratic Iraqi government,” the statement added.
The U.K. only joined the U.S.-led fight against ISIS militants on Friday when lawmakers there voted 524-43 for action — after being urgently recalled from a scheduled recess.
Arab countries have joined the military operation faster than the traditional Western allies. France responded Sept. 19, followed by Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.
The goal of the campaign is to push back the militant group that has declared a self-styled caliphate, or Islamic state, ruled by its brutal interpretation of Islam in territory it has seized across much of Iraq and Syria.
ISIS militants have beheaded one British hostage, David Haines, and have threatened the life of another, Alan Henning, and have used a third, John Cantlie, to deliver propaganda videos.
The last time the U.K. conducted airstrikes was on behalf of Libyan rebels who removed Muammar Gaddafi from power in 2011.
ISIS, had controlled Rabia since early June, when jihadist fighters swept across the border from Syria and quickly overwhelmed Iraqi security forces throughout the region, including in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
As Islamic State militants fight their way toward the Syrian-Turkish border, the Turkish government is considering sending ground forces to combat the extremists in Iraq and Syria. ISIS fighters were just three kilometers (nearly two miles) east of the northern Syria town late Monday, a civilian in Kobani told CNN on condition of anonymity.
The Turkish parliament is scheduled to vote Thursday on legislation that would send ground troops, open military bases in Turkey to foreign forces and establish a no-fly zone over Syrian airspace, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said.
Despite being a member of NATO, Turkey has been reluctant to announce any active role in the U.S.-led coalition.
Last week, Isis launched an offensive against the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani, forcing more than 130,000 Syrian Kurds to flee to Turkey,and has fueled a mushrooming humanitarian crisis on the border as some refugees are turned away by the Turkish authorities.
Turkish Kurds have also been flowing into Syria to fight the Islamic State, multiple residents said. At the border, hundreds of cars and herds of sheep and goats were lined up behind the fence.
Meanwhile, Kurdish fighters opened offensives against Islamic State militants in several parts of northern Iraq on Tuesday, seizing control of a border crossing with Syria that has been a major conduit for the insurgents, officials said.
Fighting between Iraqi Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga and the Islamic State erupted in Zumar, about 40 miles northwest of Mosul, near the reservoir of the Mosul Dam, officials said.
Iraqi and Kurdish officials also reported heavy fighting with Islamic State fighters south of Kirkuk in Daquq ,where fighters seized control of the area in June
, a district located on the main highway connecting the oil-rich area around Kirkuk with Baghdad.
Sources
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/world/middleeast/isis-iraq-kurds-pesh-merga-syria.html
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/10/01/Iraqi-pilots-mistakenly-drop-aid-to-ISIS-.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/30/world/meast/isis-iraq-syria-strikes/
Oct 01, 2014
The United Kingdom launched its first airstrikes against ISIS since parliament approved military action Friday.
British fighter planes on had launched their first airstrikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) positions in Iraq on Tuesday, targeting a weapon position and armed truck.
“Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 aircraft have been in action over Iraq today in the fight against ISIL,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This action is part of the international coalition’s operations to support the democratic Iraqi government,” the statement added.
The U.K. only joined the U.S.-led fight against ISIS militants on Friday when lawmakers there voted 524-43 for action — after being urgently recalled from a scheduled recess.
Arab countries have joined the military operation faster than the traditional Western allies. France responded Sept. 19, followed by Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.
The goal of the campaign is to push back the militant group that has declared a self-styled caliphate, or Islamic state, ruled by its brutal interpretation of Islam in territory it has seized across much of Iraq and Syria.
ISIS militants have beheaded one British hostage, David Haines, and have threatened the life of another, Alan Henning, and have used a third, John Cantlie, to deliver propaganda videos.
The last time the U.K. conducted airstrikes was on behalf of Libyan rebels who removed Muammar Gaddafi from power in 2011.
ISIS, had controlled Rabia since early June, when jihadist fighters swept across the border from Syria and quickly overwhelmed Iraqi security forces throughout the region, including in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
As Islamic State militants fight their way toward the Syrian-Turkish border, the Turkish government is considering sending ground forces to combat the extremists in Iraq and Syria. ISIS fighters were just three kilometers (nearly two miles) east of the northern Syria town late Monday, a civilian in Kobani told CNN on condition of anonymity.
The Turkish parliament is scheduled to vote Thursday on legislation that would send ground troops, open military bases in Turkey to foreign forces and establish a no-fly zone over Syrian airspace, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said.
Despite being a member of NATO, Turkey has been reluctant to announce any active role in the U.S.-led coalition.
Last week, Isis launched an offensive against the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani, forcing more than 130,000 Syrian Kurds to flee to Turkey,and has fueled a mushrooming humanitarian crisis on the border as some refugees are turned away by the Turkish authorities.
Turkish Kurds have also been flowing into Syria to fight the Islamic State, multiple residents said. At the border, hundreds of cars and herds of sheep and goats were lined up behind the fence.
Meanwhile, Kurdish fighters opened offensives against Islamic State militants in several parts of northern Iraq on Tuesday, seizing control of a border crossing with Syria that has been a major conduit for the insurgents, officials said.
Fighting between Iraqi Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga and the Islamic State erupted in Zumar, about 40 miles northwest of Mosul, near the reservoir of the Mosul Dam, officials said.
Iraqi and Kurdish officials also reported heavy fighting with Islamic State fighters south of Kirkuk in Daquq ,where fighters seized control of the area in June
, a district located on the main highway connecting the oil-rich area around Kirkuk with Baghdad.
Sources
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/world/middleeast/isis-iraq-kurds-pesh-merga-syria.html
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/10/01/Iraqi-pilots-mistakenly-drop-aid-to-ISIS-.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/30/world/meast/isis-iraq-syria-strikes/
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