'US to use spy aircraft to track ISIL in Syria'

Iran Press TV

Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:15PM GMT

The United States is planning to send spy planes into Syria to track ISIL militants who have captured large swaths of territory in neighboring Iraq.

A US official confirmed the plan after Syria said on Monday it was willing to work with the international community, including Washington, to tackle “terrorists”, including ISIL and al-Nusra Front, AFP reported.

The Syrian government insisted that any military action on its soil must be coordinated in advance. Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said that Syria rejects any unilateral military strikes by the United States or any other country.

"Any violation of Syria's sovereignty would be an act of aggression," he said. There would be "no justification" for strikes on Syrian territory "except in coordination with us to fight terrorism."

American officials, however, said they do not intend to ask permission from Damascus for the flights.

The United States’ decision to expand its military and reconnaissance activities in Syria and Iraq is triggered by the growing fear of the ISIL terrorist group which now controls large parts of Iraq and Syria.

The Obama administration has elevated ISIL as “enemy number one” for the United States after the terrorist group beheaded an American journalist James Foley in Syria.

The United States last week launched airstrikes against the militants who have overran parts of western and northern Iraq. The strikes came several months after the group began its attacks in Iraq.

A recent report by an independent news website, WND, said that ISIL members were trained in 2012 by US instructors working at a secret base in Jordan.

AN/GJH