Britain Joins Fight Against IS Militants in Iraq
by VOA News September 26, 2014
U.S. fighter jets, drones and other aircraft continued to pound Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria late Thursday and early Friday as Britain's parliament voted to join the military campaign against the militant group.
Britain's parliament on Friday voted to approve airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq by by 524 votes to 43, paving the way for the Royal Air Force to join U.S.-led military action with immediate effect.
Six Cyprus-based Tornado GR4 fighter-bombers are on standby to take part in initial strikes after Prime Minister David Cameron recalled parliament from recess to back military action following an official request from the Iraqi government.
Also, Denmark and Belgium on Friday became the latest countries to join the U.S.-led coalition that is launching airstrikes on Islamic State group militants in Iraq.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday that the country's policy of not intervening militarily in Syria could evolve over time but there are no plans to do so for now,
Fabius also told reporters France has delivered weapons to the moderate Syrian opposition and could provide more equipment.
France has bombed Islamic State targets in Iraq but has not taken part in U.S.-led airstrikes against the radical Sunni militant group in Syria, saying it was satisfied with this arrangement and that France's focus was on strengthening the Syrian moderate opposition.
US airstrikes overnight
Meanwhile, the U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said U.S. military forces conducted 10 airstrikes Thursday and early Friday against Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria. A mix of fighter, attack and remotely piloted aircraft were used in the attacks.
In Iraq, five airstrikes south and southwest of Kirkuk destroyed several vehicles in use by the militants, the military reported. There were also two other airstrikes, one west of Baghdad and another near Al-Qaim, the military reported.
In Syria, three airstrikes south and southeast of Deir el-Zour destroyed four tanks used by Islamic State fighters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group monitoring the war in Syria, said Friday that oil facilities were the apparent target of overnight strikes in Deir el-Zour. The group said a command center for the Islamic State group was also hit.
Militants change tactics
Meanwhile, Islamic State militants are changing tactics in the face of U.S. air strikes in northern Iraq, ditching conspicuous convoys in favor of motorcycles and planting their black flags on civilian homes, tribal sources and eyewitnesses said.
The sources reported fewer militant checkpoints to weed out "apostates" and less cellphone usage by the fighters since the airstrikes intensified and more U.S. allies pledged to join the campaign that began in August. They said the militants had also split up to limit their casualties.
A tribal sheik from a village south of Kirkuk said Islamic State fighters "abandoned one of their biggest headquarters in the village" when they heard the airstrike campaign was likely to target their area.
The militants have also taken to erecting their notorious black flag on the rooftops of several mostly empty residential houses and buildings, to create confusion about their actual presence.
Meanwhile, the report by the human rights group did not say if any casualties occurred in the overnight attacks, though the Observatory estimated at least 140 Islamic extremists and 13 civilians have been killed in the three previous rounds of airstrikes.
The international alarm has been triggered by Islamic State militants' brutal abuses against civilians, rival fighters and Arab and Western hostages, as well as its success in recruiting Western members.
On Thursday, police in London arrested nine people suspected of links to Islamic extremists, including a notorious radical preacher.
And the FBI said it identified the Islamic State jihadist who has appeared in videos showing the beheading of two U.S. journalists and a British aid worker, though it declined to give further details.
In France, Muslims groups were planning a Friday demonstration outside Paris's main mosque to denounce the Islamic State group.
Border town under siege
Also on Friday, Islamic State fighters edged toward a strategic town on northern Syria's border with Turkey, battling Kurdish forces and sending at least two shells into Turkish territory, witnesses said.
Islamic State fighters launched an offensive to try to capture the border town of Kobani more than a week ago, besieging it from three sides. More than 140,000 Kurds have fled the town and surrounding villages since last Friday, crossing into Turkey.
The Sunni insurgents appeared to have taken control of a hill from where fighters of the YPG, the main Kurdish armed group in northern Syria, had been attacking them in recent days, 10 kilometers (6 miles) west of Kobani, a Reuters correspondent said.
Booms of artillery and bursts of machinegun fire echoed across the border, and at least two shells hit a vineyard on the Turkish side. There were no immediate reports of casualties in Turkey and paramilitary police arrived to inspect the site.
Some information for this report came from Reuters and AFP.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
