US Launches Airstrikes in Syria
by VOA News September 22, 2014
The United States and a group of Arab countries have carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria.
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Pool told VOA late Monday the strikes involve fighter planes, bombers and ships at sea firing cruise missiles, but said he could not provide more details of the ongoing operation.
"I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against ISIL terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles. Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time. The decision to conduct these strikes was made early today by the U.S. Central Command commander under authorization granted to him by his commander in chief. We will provide more details later as operationally appropriate," said Pool.
Pool did not specify which countries were taking part, but U.S. officials speaking on the condition of anonymity about the ongoing effort said the Arab nations involved include Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have been pressing countries for weeks to join a U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group.
Obama announced in a speech on September 10 that he had authorized the expanded use of airstrikes against the Islamic State group, including in Syria.
The airstrikes that first began in Iraq in August have helped Iraqi and Kurdish forces push back against the militants, who took control of large areas in northern and western Iraq as well as eastern Syria.
In the past week, the advance by the Islamic State has also included Kurdish areas in northern Syria, along the Turkish border, leading to more than 130,000 people crossing into Turkey to escape the militants.
Earlier Monday, Hadi al-Bahra, the leader of Syria's main opposition coalition called for 'immediate' airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria.
'We must begin airstrikes in Syria immediately. As we speak, hundreds of thousands of civilians in northern Syria -- in [the] Kobane area, in the al-Arab area -- are trapped in a brutal siege by ISIS. Time is of the essence to avert catastrophe,' he said.
Protecting civilians threatened by the Islamic State in Iraq was the initial justification for U.S. airstrikes there, and Syrian opposition leaders have been hoping Obama would move quickly to expand attacks across the border where opposition forces are fighting both the Islamic State and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
Kerry: IS threatens entire Middle East
In an interview with MSNBC television Monday U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the strength of Islamic State finances and the size of the area under its control make it a more dangerous threat than al-Qaida. Kerry said the Obama administration is determined to prevent that threat from reaching the United States.
'We learned with al-Qaida you cannot leave this extremist cultism ungoverned spaces to plot what they want,' he said. 'They are dangerous to every country in the region, and you cannot have a challenge to the norms of international behavior, the rule of law, to states and leave it unchallenged.'
U.S. airstrikes in support of a ground offensive by Iraqi forces have been pushing Islamic State fighters back toward Syria. Kerry told MSNBC there are no plans for such U.S. ground forces in Iraq as 'this is a fight for the region.'
'Every country in the region is deeply threatened by this. And that includes Iran, includes Lebanon, includes all of the neighborhood,' Kerry said. ' And it is absolutely fair and appropriate for the world to expect that that region will fight for itself.'
According to a senior State Department official, Kerry provided an update on efforts to build an international coalition to degrade and destroy IS during a meeting with U.K. Foreign Secretary Hammond Monday morning. In advance of Obama's meeting with Prime Minister Cameron later this week, they also discussed contributions from both the U.S. and the U.K. as well as countries in the region.
New IS threat against coalition countries
Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani Monday told the group's followers to attack citizens of the United States, France, and any other countries that join a coalition against the militants.
Kerry is in New York to continue building that coalition after traveling last week to Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.
He discussed those efforts Sunday in separate talks with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as well as Monday in meetings with U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters. VOA's Scott Stearns and Carla Babb contributed to this report.
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