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Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

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US-Led Air Strikes on Syria Results in Killing 74 People, Including Two Dozens of Children and Civilians, in the First Day of the Air Campaign on the Sunni Territory, September 24, 2014

Editor's Note:

The first day of the US-led air strikes on Syria, targeting facilities held by ISIS and Nusra in the Sunni territory, resulted in more deaths and more destruction to the devastated country. Initial counts refer to 58 people killed, including children.

The two Shi'i sectarian regimes in Syria and Iraq are going to be the winners of this war, which may end up enabling them to restore their subjugation and oppression of Sunnis in Syria and Iraq.

 

 

Syrians say civilians killed in U.S. airstrikes

Los Angeles Times, By Raja Abdulrahim

Reporting for Irbil, Iraq,

September 23, 2014

The video, said to have been shot Tuesday in northwestern Syria, shows Idlib province residents going through motions that have become all too familiar in three years of civil war between antigovernment rebels and the forces of President Bashar Assad: surveying the remnants of flattened homes and picking through the debris.

This time, though, the bombs rained down from a government other than Assad's. "Mass destruction of the civilian homes as a result of the strikes of the Western alliance on the civilians in the western Idlib suburbs," an antigovernment activist says in the video. "Look, it is all civilian homes."

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.

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.

Even some rebel groups that have lost members and territory in clashes with Islamic State said they didn't think the airstrikes would be to their benefit.

"The only beneficiary of external intervention in Syria is the Assad regime, especially in the absence of any true strategy to bring him down," said a statement by the rebel group Harakat Hazm, a partner in the Free Syrian Army, which has received American-made antitank weapons and covert CIA training. "Mercy upon the martyrs."

Further complicating matters is the fact that some of the strikes targeted partners of Al Nusra Front, which, unlike Islamic State, enjoys wide support among Syrian rebels and civilians living in opposition-controlled areas.

"We are unaware of any civilian casualties," U.S. Lt. Gen. William Mayville, who directs operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a news briefing at the Pentagon. "If any reports of civilian casualties emerge, we will fully investigate."

In Syria, estimates of the number of civilians killed varied from eight to 24.

Antigovernment activists said that five missiles struck in Idlib province, four on Al Nusra Front bases and weapons warehouses and the other in a residential neighborhood in the village of Kafar Daryan. The Syrian Network for Human Rights said 12 people were killed in the village, including four children in one family.

"Because civilians were targeted in Aleppo and Idlib," said Abdulkareem Laila, spokesman with Islamic Front, an Islamist coalition of rebels allied with both the Western-backed Free Syrian Army and Al Nusra Front. "Once Syrian civilian blood has been shed, all benefits go away."

Another group, the Mujahedin Army, released a statement saying that "any strikes that do not target the regime and its lackeys … is conspiring against our people and our great revolution."

Omar Zafer, a resident of Dair Alzour, in eastern Syria, said Islamic State militants evacuated their bases before the strikes and most casualties were among the civilian population.

"Everyone is against the airstrikes and there is sympathy toward ISIS," he said, using one of the acronyms for Islamic State.

Pentagon: Airstrikes in Syria damaged Islamic State strongholds The Pentagon says U.S.-led airstrikes in northern Syria targeting Islamic State strongholds "destroyed or damaged" several positions belonging to the militant group. The Pentagon says U.S.-led airstrikes in northern Syria targeting Islamic State strongholds "destroyed or damaged" several positions belonging to the militant group.

Even those who contradicted his account of civilian deaths agreed that there was widespread concern about further strikes.

"There is fear among residents; they fear upcoming strikes could hit them," said Omar Abu Laili, an antigovernment activist in Dair Alzour. "We support the airstrikes as long as they don't target civilians. The people have reached the point where they are willing to ask for help from any side."

American officials said three waves of airstrikes in northern Syria hit militants' headquarters, training camps, weapons, fuel depots and command and control centers. The strikes, which U.S. officials said were conducted with the help of several Arab states, struck 14 Islamic State targets in Raqqah, Dair Alzour, Hasakah and Abu Kamal.

In Raqqah, no civilian deaths were reported.

Special correspondent Nabih Bulos in Beirut contributed to this report. 

Air strikes in Syria hit Islamic State-held areas near Turkey: monitor

BEIRUT Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:56am EDT

(Reuters) -

Air strikes overnight hit Islamic State-held territory in Syria near the Turkish border, near an area that tens of thousands of Kurds have fled as the militant group advanced, an organization that tracks the Syrian war said on Wednesday.

Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the warplanes that carried out the raids around 30-35 km (19-22 miles) west of the city of Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, had come from the direction of Turkey.

There was no other confirmation of air strikes in the area and Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Abdul Rahman said it was not clear which country had carried out the strikes, although the planes were not believed to be from the Syrian air force, he said. Abdul Rahman's Observatory gathers its information from a network of sources across Syria.

A U.S.-led alliance started air strikes on Islamic State in Syria on Tuesday. Islamic State, which has captured land in Syria and Iraq, launched an offensive against the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobani last week, forcing more than 130,000 Syrian Kurds to flee.

A local official in central Kobani said he had not heard any air strikes close to the town overnight, but that fighting continued between Kurdish forces and Islamic State, which has been trying to consolidate its territory across northern Syria.

Idris Nassan, deputy minister for foreign affairs in the Kobani canton, said Islamic State remained around 15 km from the town in the east and west but had advanced in the south to within 10 km after heavy clashes with Kurdish forces.

"Now I hear the noise of mortars in the south," he told Reuters by telephone. "Islamic State gathered heavy forces there. So did the YPG but Islamic State pushed them back."

The YPG is the main Kurdish armed group.

Redur Xelil, spokesman for the YPG, said Islamic State was still pushing to take the town, despite the start of U.S.-led air strikes against the group in Syria.

"They did not withdraw from any positions and the battles are still continuing at their most intense level in Kobani and also in Ras al-Ayn," he said, referring to Syrian territory further east along the border.

(Reporting by Tom Perry and Sylvia Westall, editing by John Stonestreet and Hugh Lawson)

US airstrikes on ISIS strongholds in Syria

Daily Mirror, By Sam Adams

September 23, 2014

The US and Arab partner nations today launched airstrikes on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets in Syria.

The move is a significant escalation of America's military campaign against ISIS - who hold swathes of territory across the region.

Around 20 targets have been hit, including ISIS training and logistics sites.

The strikes have increased pressure on US President Barack Obama to commit US ground troops to fighting ISIS.

In Britain, Labour's Chuka Ummuna has warned that it is 'inconceivable' that Prime Minister David Cameron will commit Britain to joining in with the airstrikes without the approval of Parliament.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces say they have shot down a Syrian fighter jet which strayed into their air space.

The UN is preparing for 400,000 Kurdish refugees in Syria to flee into Turkey as ISIS continues to advance.

It has been revealed that the Syrian's were warned of the US-led strikes on ISIS in a letter from American Secretary of State John Kerry - which was received hours before the raids began.

To recap on the all the news and reaction as it happened, scroll down.

6:32 am

The United States and partner nations have carried out the first air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria, the Pentagon said on Monday, in ongoing operations that mark the opening of a new, far more complicated front in battle against the militants.

"I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against ISIL in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles," Rear Admiral John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.

"Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time."

Around 20 targets were hit during the attacks, a U.S. official said.

The official said some of the strikes employed Tomahawk missiles launched from at least one U.S. ship at sea.

The United States informed Syria’s U.N. representative on Monday that Islamic State targets

would be hit in the Syrian city of Raqqa, Syrian state television reported on today.

The television broadcast the news in a headline bar and cited Syria’s Foreign Ministry as the source.

6:34 am
Dozens of militants killed

UPI /Landov / Barcroft Media Barack Obama
Escalation: President Barack Obama ordered the strikes yesterday
 

Dozens of ISIS fighters were killed or wounded in air strikes on the Syrian city of

Raqqa and surrounding areas, a group that tracks the war said on Tuesday.

"There are tens of wounded and dead," Rami Abdulrahman, head

of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. The Observatory gathers information from a network of activists on the ground.

The Pentagon earlier said the United States and partner nations were carrying out the first air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.

6:39 am

Targeted: ISIS training camps have been hit
 

Among the futuristic weaponry deployed against ISIS by the US were the $143m F-22 stealth Raptors - which are being used for the first time in combat.

The strikes are understood to be targeting the ISIS command and control sites in Syria, with the stronghold town of Raqqa particularly hard hit.

Training camps and logistical sites have also been pounded in the strikes.

6:48 am
Will ground troops be used?

F-15 fighter jets
Deadly: US F-15 fighter jets
 

The airstrikes are a major escalation of the US campaign against ISIS.

They show that US President Barack Obama is prepared to use American military might to confront the militants.

Calls are increasing for the US and other Western nations to send ground troops in to Iraq to help fight back the militants, who have overwhelmed the Iraqi Army.

The recent beheadings of US and British hostages has ramped up the pressure on President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron to act.

6:54 am
Coalition involved in airstrikes

Getty
Strikes: A US F-22 stealth fighter
 

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Bahrain were involved in U.S. air strikes launched in Syria against ISIS, a U.S. official said, although their exact roles in the military action were unclear.

Qatar played a supporting role in the air strikes, the official said.

7:14 am
ISIS also targeted in Iraq

 

There are reports that the US and allied airstrikes on ISIS have also hit targets in northern Iraq.

The US informed Syria that it would be entering its airspace to hit the militants who occupy larges parts of the country.

The strikes have reportedly included targeted missile attacks, launched from US Navy vessels in the Gulf.

7:18 am
Blair: 'Britain and US must send in ground troops'

PA Tony Blair
Warning: Tony Blair
 

Former prime minister Tony Blair has said Britain and its allies must be prepared to send in ground troops to defeat ISIS.

The former PM warned that air strikes alone are not enough to smash the advance of ISIS.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "Unless you're prepared to fight these people on the ground, you may contain them but you won't defeat them."

He added: "The problem is not that we're facing a fringe of crazy people, a sort of weird cult confined to a few fanatics”

His comments are likely to spark controversy with people still angry over Britain's involvement in the 2003 Iraq war.

7:28 am

Barack Obama has been reluctant to deploy US military might in the Middle East and made withdrawing troops from Iraq a priority of his presidency.

But, faced with the threat of a region-wide conflict initiated by ISIS, Obama has taken decisive action.

Commentators have warned, however, that US air power alone cannot defeat the ISIS fighters, who are firmly entrenched in large parts of Syria and Iraq.

 

7:36 am
US to work with Iran against ISIS?

Daily Mirror ISIS_MAP
ISIS MAP
 

The White House is reportedly considering working with Iran to combat ISIS.

The powerful militant organisation holds territory on the border with Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

Concerns have been raised that Tehran might try to trade concessions over its nuclear programme from the US in return for support against ISIS.

The White House has denied that any such deal exists.

7:40 am
Britain: 'No final decision on whether to join airstrikes'

Getty David Cameron
Response: David Cameron has yet to respond to US-led strikes
 

Britain said on Tuesday that no final decision had been made over whether to join air strikes

launched by the United States and several Gulf Arab allies on Islamic State strongholds in Syria.

A spokeswoman at the Ministry of Defence said discussions were still ongoing.

The office of British Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain was not currently part of the action against Islamic State fighters who have seized large expanses of territory in Iraq and Syria.

7:59 am
Attacks on Syrian targets follow 200 airstrikes in Iraq

Reuters IS fighters
Threat: ISIS fighters in Syria
 

The airstrikes were carried out by USAF and US Navy aircraft, with Tomahawk missiles fired from ships in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.

The strikes were ordered by General Lloyd Austin, the commander of US forces in the Middle East and South Asia.

They were authorised by President Barack Obama.

The US has already launched 200 airstrikes in Iraq. The expansion of the strikes into Syria is an widening of the use of military force against ISIS.

8:09 am
Israel shoots down Syrian aircraft

Defence: A Patriot missile being launched
 

An Israeli Patriot missile shot down a Syrian aircraft that flew into Israeli-controlled

airspace on Tuesday, the military said, without disclosing the type of plane it intercepted.

"Moments ago a Syrian aircraft infiltrated Israeli airspace.

The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) intercepted the aircraft in mid-flight, using the Patriot air defence system. The circumstances of the incident are being reviewed," a military statement said.

Israel Radio said the aircraft was a drone and was shot down over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where fighting from Syria’s civil war has occasionally spilled over. Israeli Army Radio said it may have been a Syrian warplane.

8:18 am
Labour: 'Inconceivable' that Britain will join airstrikes without backing of Parliament

MP Chuka Umunna
Warning: Umunna
 

Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said it was "inconceivable" that British Prime Minister David Cameron could commit to joining the US airstrikes against ISIS without seeking the approval of Parliament.

He said Labour would apply the same criteria as to last year's planned strikes on Syria - which MPs voted down - to any new proposal.

He told Sky News: "Isis need to be eliminated. What they are doing in the region is evil, is terrible.

"Obviously the Prime Minister hasn't determined yet that the UK should get involved.

"If that is something he does, the Labour Party will apply the same criteria to whether or not we choose to support the intervention as we applied to the proposed Syrian action last year - is there a legal basis to intervene, is there a plan for intervention, and, importantly as well, learning the lessons from Iraq, is there a plan for what happens after?

"It is inconceivable that the Prime Minister could press on with air strikes frankly without consulting Parliament and seeking proper consultation with Parliament."

8:30 am
'US drone' crashes in northern Syria

Attacks: A man inspects the remains of what ISIS claims was a US drone in Raqqa
Attacks: A man inspects the remains of what ISIS claims was a US drone in Raqqa
 

A US military drone has crashed in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa - ISIS claim.

The drone is believed to have crashed into a communications tower.

Fragments of the aircraft were collected and loaded into the back of a van.

It comes as US and Arab air and missile strikes have pounded ISIS strongholds and training bases in Syria.

Pressure is rising on US President Barack Obama to commit US ground forces to fighting ISIS.

Commentators have warned that airstrikes alone will merely disrupt, rather than destroy the militants' forces in the region.

Should Britain join the airstrikes on ISIS?

8:40 am
Recap on events so far

Reuters IS fighters
Dug in: A militant waves an ISIS flag in Raqqa
 

To recap: The US and Arab partner nations have launched airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria.

The move is a significant escalation of America's military campaign against the militants - who hold swathes of territory across the region.

Around 20 targets have been hit, including ISIS training and logistics sites.

The strikes will increase pressure on US President Barack Obama to commit US ground troops to fighting ISIS.

In Britain, Labour's Chuka Ummuna has warned that it is 'inconceivable' that Prime Minister David Cameron will commit Britain to joining in with the airstrikes without the approval of Parliament.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces say they have shot down a Syrian fighter jet which strayed into their air space.

8:47 am
Ex-CIA analyst: 'We can decapitate ISIS but they are not going away'

Getty U.S Drone
Technology: Drones are believed to have been used in strikes on ISIS
 

Bob Baer, a former CIA analyst who is currently liaising between the US government and Sunni tribes in northern Iraq, said bombarding ISIS will ultimately end in failure.

He told the BBC: "We can decapitate Isis, we can degrade them, but this is not going away, it's not going to lessen the civil war in Iraq or the civil war in Syria.

"The way the Sunnis look at it - I'm not talking about Isis - is we're siding with Iran, (Syrian president Bashar al-Assad) and the Alawites.

"They will look at it as if we're entering the civil war. There will be an indeterminable outcome to this, a blowback if you like.

"I can't tell you where it's going to be - it could be Jordan, it could be Lebanon - but we've not heard the end of this so this is a very risky move bombarding Raqqa."

9:02 am
Syrian opposition says airstrikes will help in fight against Assad's forces

AFP President Bashar al-Assad
Conflict: Syria's President Bashar al-Assad
 

Syria’s Western-backed National Coalition opposition group has welcomed airstrikes by the United States and its Arab allies on ISIS strongholds in Syria.

The group said the strikes would strengthen its struggle against President Bashar al-Assad - whose forces have been engaged in a civil war that has claimed thousands of lives.

"This will make us stronger in the fight against Assad," Monzer Akbik, special envoy to the president of the coalition, said.

"The campaign should continue until the Islamic State is completely eradicated from Syrian lands."

9:26 am
Jack Straw: British involvement should be 'proportionate'

Getty Jack Straw
Jack Straw

Former foreign secretary Jack Straw said he was not against the principle of "proportionate and sensible" British involvement in military action against ISIS.

He said, however that operations in Syria required "some kind of consent" from the Syrian government.

The Labour MP told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We're part of the Western alliance, we have key interests - direct and indirect - in the region, so in principle we should be involved provided the circumstances are right.

"I'm sorry if that sounds qualified but if there is a clear proposition from the British Government for British military involvement, which is discussed in detail with Ed Miliband and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander, I know that it will be given a very sympathetic hearing as it will do from the parliamentary Labour Party."

9:32 am
Britain 'more likely to join allied airstrikes in Iraq than Syria'

PA Philip Hammond in Downing Street
Response: Philip Hammond in Downing Street
 

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has previously said Britain will play a "leading role " in the coalition - although the signs are that the UK is more likely to join air strikes against ISIS in Iraq rather than in Syria.

While Downing Street has said nothing has been ruled out, Mr. Hammond has said there would be significant military, legal and technical differences in mounting strikes on Syrian territory.

In particular, strikes on IS in Iraq would be conducted at the invitation of the government in Baghdad, while Britain has ruled out any co-operation with the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad.

France, which has already joined the US in carrying out attacks on ISIS forces in northern Iraq, has ruled out extending its action into Syria.

9:44 am
Syrian Government to make statement

John Cantlie A walnut tree stripped of its branches stands in the rubble of the Kalat al-Numan citadel, originally built during the Roman era some 2000-years-ago, after allegedly being bombed several times by the Syrian air force
Wreckage: Parts of Syria have been left devastated by the civil war
 

The Syrian foreign ministry is preparing to make an "important statement", state TV has said.

It comes after US led coalition launched air strikes on ISIS targets in the north of the country.

Stay with us for further updates.

9:50 am
Civilians killed in allied airstrike in Aleppo

 

Air strikes by US-led coalition forces in Syria killed 30 fighters from al-Nusra Front and eight civilians including children, a group monitoring the war said on Tuesday.

The strikes targeted a residential building in Aleppo province used by Nusra Front, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The United States said earlier on Tuesday its forces had carried out eight strikes against al Qaeda-affilated militants west of Aleppo.

9:58 am

A man inspects the damage in a communication station where Islamist State militants say a U.S. drone crashed into in Raqqa September 23, 2014.
A man inspects the damage in a communication station where Islamic State militants say a U.S. drone crashed into in Raqqa September 23, 2014.

A man inspects the damage in a communication station which ISIS fighters say a US drone crashed into in Raqqa, norther Syria.

The US and several Gulf Arab allies launched air and missile strikes on Islamic State strongholds in Syria today.

Fighter jets, drones and ship-launched Tomahawk missiles were all reported to have been used in the strikes.

10:15 am
NATO 'not involved' in US-led airstrikes

Wreckage: Part of what ISIS say was a US drone that crashed in Raqqa, norther Syria

NATO said on Tuesday it was not involved in US-led strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria.

NATO's 28 member states includes Britain.

"There is no NATO involvement," an alliance official said.

The US and Arab allies hit ISIS targets including training camps, headquarters and weapon supplies in northern and eastern Syria in dozens of air and missile strikes today.

10:32 am
Is Britain's 'special relationship' with the US over?

The special relationship between the US and Britain has come under fresh scrutiny following today's airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria.

The lack of British involvement the military action shows President Barack Obama's willingness to act without UK support.

David Cameron failed to win the backing of Parliament to support US airstrikes on Syria last year.

It was the first time in decades that a British Prime Minister was unable to provide military support for a joint operation with the Americans.

Commentators have claimed that the White House no longer believes the US can rely automatically on British support when taking military action.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson illustrated this feeling when he tweeted this morning.

10:40 am
Video 'of US-led airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria'

This video claims to show US-led airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria.

The footage, which was shot at night, shows a series of explosions, apparently caused by missile strikes.

The US and its Arab allies, used aircraft, drones and missiles to strikes around 20 ISIS targets.

These includes training bases, logistics and weapons dumps.

 

10:49 am
Syria warned of US-led airstrikes in letter from John Kerry

Letter: US Secretary of State John Kerry
 

The Syrian government said on Tuesday it had received a letter from US Secretary of State John Kerry telling it the United States and its allies planned to attack ISIS in Syria.

"The foreign minister received a letter from his American counterpart via the Iraqi foreign minister, in which he informed him that the United States and some of its allies would target (Islamic State) in Syria," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "That was hours before the raids started."

In the statement read out on state TV, the Syrian government said it would continue to attack Islamic State in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor - areas of eastern and northern Syria that were hit in the US-led air strikes on Tuesday.

The Syrian government said coordination with the Shi’ite-led government in Baghdad was continuing at its "highest levels".

10:58 am
Footage shows US jets taking off to strike ISIS targets

This video shows US Navy jets taking off to strike ISIS targets deep inside Syria.

Around 20 sites were hit, including training bases, logistics and weapons dumps.

The strikes, which the US carried out in partnership with Arab allies, is a major escalation in the battle against ISIS.

 

11:09 am
Security analyst: 'Airstrikes will weaken ISIS but not destroy it'

YouTube Grabs from unverified footage which appears to show the US air strikes on Islamic State bases in the city of of Raqqa in Syria last night
Targets: Missile strikes on ISIS bases in Syria
 

Airstrikes will weaken ISIS but not destroy it, a security analyst has warned.

Shashank Joshi, senior research fellow at military think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said in the absence of ground troops the US-led campaign would be limited to "applying pressure" on the group.

He said the first wave of strikes in Syria were an important development in the fight against IS.

"Given IS's headquarters and most of its wealth-producing assets are in Syria, it's extremely important that they are targeted across both countries.

"In order to weaken and eventually defeat IS you have to take them on on both sides of what is a very porous border."

11:20 am
UN: '400,000 Kurds preparing to flee ISIS advance'

Reuters Syrian refugees
Exodus: Refugees
 

The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday that it was making contingency plans for all 400,000 inhabitants of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani to flee into Turkey to escape the advance of Islamist militants.

Some 138,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees have entered Turkey in an exodus that began last week, and two border crossing points remain open, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said.

"We are preparing for the whole population fleeing into Turkey. The population of Kobani is 400,000," UNHCR chief spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a news briefing in Geneva.

"We don’t know, but we are preparing for that contingency."

11:51 am
US-led strikes on Al-Nusra 'kills 50'

Reuters A view shows buildings damaged by what activists say were missiles fired by Syrian Air Force fighter jets
Damage: Fighting in Syria has left many areas in ruins (file picture)
 

The death toll from US strikes on al-Nusra fighters in northern Syria has risen to 50, a monitoring group said on Tuesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said most of those killed in the strikes, which targeted fighters from the Nusra Front in the northern Idlib area, had been non-Syrians.

The strikes on the Front come alongside attacks on ISIS bases in the region.

11:56 am
Recap on events so far

AFP an F-35B Lightning II makes the first vertical landing on a flight deck
Attacks: US Navy aircraft were launched from a carrier in the Persian Gulf
 

To recap: The US and Arab partner nations have launched airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria.

The move is a significant escalation of America's military campaign against the militants - who hold swathes of territory across the region.

Around 20 targets have been hit, including ISIS training and logistics sites.

The strikes will increase pressure on US President Barack Obama to commit US ground troops to fighting ISIS.

In Britain, Labour's Chuka Ummuna has warned that it is 'inconceivable' that Prime Minister David Cameron will commit Britain to joining in with the airstrikes without the approval of Parliament.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces say they have shot down a Syrian fighter jet which strayed into their air space.

The UN is preparing for 400,000 Kurdish refugees in Syria to flee into Turkey as ISIS continues to advance.

It has been revealed that the Syrian's were warned of the US-led strikes on ISIS in a letter from American Secretary of State John Kerry - which was received hours before the raids began.

12:30 pm
Residents flee Syrian city following airstrikes

Displaced: Civil war in Syria has made thousands homeless (file picture)
 

Residents are fleeing the Syrian city of Raqqa after US warplanes struck positions held by ISIS fighters.

"There is an exodus out of Raqqa as we speak," one witness said.

"It started in the early hours of the day after the strikes. People are fleeing towards the countryside."

ISIS bases have been attacked across northern Syria by US-led coalition forces.

12:51 pm
Watch as Tomahawk missiles are launched from US warship

This dramatic footage shows Tomahawk missiles being launched against ISIS from the deck of a US warship.

The video shows crew on the bridge of the vessel watching on as the missiles take off into the night sky - headed for militant targets in Syria.

The footage emerged after a US-led coalition pounded ISIS-held territory in the war-torn country.

 

1:10 pm
President Obama to make statement on battle against ISIS

Reuters
Imminent: Obama will address the world from the White House
 

US President Barack Obama is due to make a statement following American-led airstrikes on ISIS militants in Syria.

He will speak from the White House before departing for New York at 2.20pm to attend the United Nations climate meeting.

The US and Arab allies began bombing in Syria for the first time on today, pursuing a campaign against ISIS in a war at the heart of the Middle East.

ISIS has vowed revenge for the attacks in Syria.

2:05 pm

This live blog is now closed.

To recap on today's events: The US and Arab partner nations have launched airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria.

The move is a significant escalation of America's military campaign against the militants - who hold swathes of territory across the region.

Around 20 targets have been hit, including ISIS training and logistics sites.

The strikes have increased pressure on US President Barack Obama to commit US ground troops to fighting ISIS.

In Britain, Labour's Chuka Ummuna has warned that it is 'inconceivable' that Prime Minister David Cameron will commit Britain to joining in with the airstrikes without the approval of Parliament.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces say they have shot down a Syrian fighter jet which strayed into their air space.

The UN is preparing for 400,000 Kurdish refugees in Syria to flee into Turkey as ISIS continues to advance.

It has been revealed that the Syrian's were warned of the US-led strikes on ISIS in a letter from American Secretary of State John Kerry - which was received hours before the raids began.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/airstrikes-isis-recap-after-military-4306415#ixzz3EE2vTAxj

 

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