Syrians Say Civilians Killed in U.S. Airstrikes

The Los Angeles Times reports that Syrian activists say civilians have already been killed in the U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which began Monday in four of the country’s provinces.

“As officials in Washington released vivid photographic evidence of the destruction of militant Islamists’ training camps and headquarters, videos on social media and statements by a wide range of Syrian rebel groups painted a more complex picture of the damage caused by the first rounds of U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria,” writes Raja Abdulrahim.

“Activists say as many as two dozen civilians were killed in the bombardments that began late Monday, and public opinion varied greatly, with some who have suffered at the hands of militants with the group Islamic State praising the attacks and others decrying the loss of civilian life or the fact that the campaign wasn’t targeting the government of Assad.”

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that despite the backing of five Arab nations, American military officials say the U.S. is carrying out the strikes largely on its own.

Lt. Gen. William C. Mayville Jr., the director of operations with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tells the paper that U.S. planes and cruise missiles were responsible for a majority of the attacks, aiming to weaken ISIS.

“What we have been doing over these last couple of weeks and what last night’s campaign was about was simply buying them some space so that they can get on the offensive,” he said.

The paper adds: “Military officials said that the airstrikes began at midnight Monday local time with the launching of some 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the guided missile destroyer Arleigh Burke at positions held in Aleppo by a Qaida-linked network known as Khorasan and at Islamic State targets around the group’s headquarters in Raqqa.”

And AP writes that Obama and other leaders said Tuesday: “The one-two-three punch of American and Arab airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq was just the beginning.

“At the same time, in fresh evidence of how the terrorist threat continues to expand and mutate, the U.S. on its own struck a new al-Qaida cell that the Pentagon said was ‘nearing the execution phase’ of a direct attack on the U.S. or Europe.”