U.S. and Allies Strike ISIS Targets in Syria
The New York Times reports that the U.S. and allied nations have begun expected, “wide-ranging” airstrikes on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Syria’s north and east. Military officials and Syrian activists told the paper that the strikes targeted the group’s bases, training camps and checkpoints in at least four provinces.
“The attacks struck a fierce opening blow against the jihadists of [ISIS], scattering their forces and damaging the network of facilities they have built in Syria that helped fuel the group’s seizure of a large part of Iraq this year,” it says.
“Separate from the attacks on [ISIS], the United States Central Command, or Centcom, said that American forces acting alone ‘took action’ against ‘a network of seasoned al-Qaida veterans’ from the Khorasan group in Syria to disrupt ‘imminent attack planning against the United States and Western interests.’”
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that Russia has condemned the strikes, and is “hedging support for the attacks so long as they proceed without the Syrian government’s consent.”
Though Russia also believes that ISIS should be destroyed, the paper says Moscow is the Syrian government’s unofficial patron and interlocutor in international discussions about how to confront the Sunni militants.
“Russia is insistent that U.S. measures to target militants in Syria lack authority without buy-in from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,” it says, “a point Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday.”
And the Guardian reports that ISIS has posted a new video of British hostage John Cantlie, within hours of the airstrikes.
“In the latest five minute [and] 45 second video, Cantlie warns that the U.S. and its allies were embarking upon what he describes as ‘Gulf War III,’ adding: ‘Not since Vietnam have we witnessed such a potential mess in the making.’ Cantlie also references British military aid to Kurdish forces, suggesting that the video was recently made.
Israel Shoots Down Syrian Warplane in Golan
Reuters reports that for the first time in three decades, Israel has shot down a Syrian warplane. Israeli officials said the plane had violated its airspace in the Golan Heights.
“The incident coincided with but did not appear to be directly related to air strikes the United States and Gulf Arab allies mounted on Islamic State strongholds in Syria,” the wire says.
“But it presented another challenge to Israel’s oft-stated desire to stay on the sidelines of a conflict on its northern doorstep, in which al Qaida-linked Nusra Front rebels took over a border crossing on the Golan last month.”
UNHCR Braces for Additional 400,000 Refugees
Reuters reports that UNHCR said Tuesday that it is making contingency plans should 400,000 inhabitants of Kobani, a Syrian Kurdish city near the Turkish border, flee the advance of ISIS there.
The agency said 138,000 Syrian Kurds have entered southern Turkey since last week. Two key border crossings remain open.
“We are preparing for the potential of the whole population fleeing into Turkey. Anything could happen and that population of Kobani is 400,000,” Reuters quotes UNHCR chief spokeswoman Melissa Fleming as saying. “We don’t know if all of those people will flee, but we are preparing for that contingency.”