US, Arab Allies launch airstrikes in Syria
Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah
Sep23, 2014
The United States and five Arab countries launched airstrikes against Sunni militants in Syria early Tuesday, the Pentagon said, a heavy bombardment against multiple targets that marked an aggressive expansion of President Obama's war on Islamic State militants.
U.S. officials said the airstrikes began around 8:30 p.m. EDT, and were conducted by the U.S., Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
At a conference on Sept. 11 with Secretary of State John Kerry, key Arab allies promised they would ‘‘do their share’’ to fight the Islamic State militants.
The airstrikes focused on the city of Raqqa, the Sunni extremists' stronghold in northeastern Syria, and along the border with Iraq, targets included fuel and weapons depots, command and control facilities, training camps and other targets .The first wave of strikes finished about 90 minutes later, but the operation was expected to continue for several more hours, according to one U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly by name about an ongoing mission.
Syria's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. informed Syria's envoy to the U.N. that "strikes will be launched against the terrorist Daesh group in Raqqa." The statement used an Arabic name to refer to the Islamic State group.
The strikes are a major turning point in President Obama’s war against the Islamic State , which has released a series of videos in recent weeks showing the beheadings of two U.S. journalists and a British aid worker.
United States launched airstrikes in Syria without the approval of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, whose government, unlike Iraq, did not ask the United States for help against the Sunni militant group. Mr. Obama has repeatedly called on Mr. Assad to step down because of chemical weapons attacks and violence against his own people, and defense officials said Mr. Assad had not been told in advance of the strikes.
In addition, the airstrikes could indirectly help Assad’s regime, which is also fighting ISIL. The U.S. has said it will not work with Assad to battle the Islamic militant group but is also not attempting to help rebel groups battle Assad’s forces
Over the weekend,France has publicly committed to launching airstrikes, but only in Iraq, not Syria. French warplanes attacked Islamic State positions in northern Iraq .
The airstrikes in Syria come less than a week after Congress approved new authority for the administration to begin training and equipping moderate Syrian rebel groups to fight the Islamic militant group.Obama signed the bill into law Friday, providing $500 million for the U.S. to train about 5,000 rebels over the next year.
Sources
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/23/world/meast/isis-airstrikes/
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-us-syria-isis-airstrikes-20140922-story.html#page=1
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/pentagon-us-partners-begin-airstrikes-syria-25687799
Sep23, 2014
The United States and five Arab countries launched airstrikes against Sunni militants in Syria early Tuesday, the Pentagon said, a heavy bombardment against multiple targets that marked an aggressive expansion of President Obama's war on Islamic State militants.
U.S. officials said the airstrikes began around 8:30 p.m. EDT, and were conducted by the U.S., Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
At a conference on Sept. 11 with Secretary of State John Kerry, key Arab allies promised they would ‘‘do their share’’ to fight the Islamic State militants.
The airstrikes focused on the city of Raqqa, the Sunni extremists' stronghold in northeastern Syria, and along the border with Iraq, targets included fuel and weapons depots, command and control facilities, training camps and other targets .The first wave of strikes finished about 90 minutes later, but the operation was expected to continue for several more hours, according to one U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly by name about an ongoing mission.
Syria's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. informed Syria's envoy to the U.N. that "strikes will be launched against the terrorist Daesh group in Raqqa." The statement used an Arabic name to refer to the Islamic State group.
The strikes are a major turning point in President Obama’s war against the Islamic State , which has released a series of videos in recent weeks showing the beheadings of two U.S. journalists and a British aid worker.
United States launched airstrikes in Syria without the approval of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, whose government, unlike Iraq, did not ask the United States for help against the Sunni militant group. Mr. Obama has repeatedly called on Mr. Assad to step down because of chemical weapons attacks and violence against his own people, and defense officials said Mr. Assad had not been told in advance of the strikes.
In addition, the airstrikes could indirectly help Assad’s regime, which is also fighting ISIL. The U.S. has said it will not work with Assad to battle the Islamic militant group but is also not attempting to help rebel groups battle Assad’s forces
Over the weekend,France has publicly committed to launching airstrikes, but only in Iraq, not Syria. French warplanes attacked Islamic State positions in northern Iraq .
The airstrikes in Syria come less than a week after Congress approved new authority for the administration to begin training and equipping moderate Syrian rebel groups to fight the Islamic militant group.Obama signed the bill into law Friday, providing $500 million for the U.S. to train about 5,000 rebels over the next year.
Sources
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/23/world/meast/isis-airstrikes/
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-us-syria-isis-airstrikes-20140922-story.html#page=1
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/pentagon-us-partners-begin-airstrikes-syria-25687799
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