US and Arab warplanes strike ISIL in Syria

US and Arab warplanes hammered ISIL militants in eastern Syria early Tuesday, opening a new front in the fight against the group.

The Pentagon says the US and partner nations have begun air strikes in Syria against ISIL militants, using a mix of fighter jets, bombers and Tomahawk missiles fired from ships in the region. Kirby says that because the military operation is ongoing, no details can be provided yet. Susan Walsh / APShow less

DAMASCUS // The United States and Arab countries launched air strikes on ISIL targets in Syria, expanding a military campaign into a country whose three-year civil war has given the brutal group a safe haven.

The strikes early on Tuesday focused on ISIL positions in Raqa, a stronghold for the extremists, as well as targets along the Iraq-Syria border, a Pentagon official said.

Along with ongoing air raids, the US military fired Tomahawk cruise missiles from warships in the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea.

Jordanian warplanes took part in the operation “to defeat terrorism in its strongholds,” a Jordanian government spokesman said.

Syria’s foreign ministry said Damascus had been informed by Washington about imminent air strikes.

The US-led air assault in Syria marks a turning point in the war against ISIL, as Barack Obama had long been reluctant to intervene in Syria’s civil war.

But Washington concluded it had to act along with its Arab allies, amid fears ISIL fighters could wreak havoc across the region and eventually stage terror attacks in the United States if left unchecked.

“I can confirm that US 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,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.

US F-22 fighter jets, America’s most sophisticated warplane, were scheduled to take part in the raids.

The wave of strikes came less than two weeks after Mr Obama warned that he had approved an expansion of the campaign against ISIL to include action in Syria.

“I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are,” Mr Obama said on September 10 in a speech to the nation.

“This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven.”

Under Mr Obama’s orders, US warplanes began air strikes against ISIL targets in Iraq on August 8, with about 190 raids carried out against the extremists there.

Mr Obama, however, has repeatedly promised the campaign would not involve a combat mission for US ground troops in Iraq.

France is the only country to have joined the US air strikes against ISIL in Iraq. Australia said Monday it was deploying fighter jets to join the campaign.

The US president’s strategy calls for American air power combined with training and arming local forces in Iraq and “moderate” rebel fighters in Syria.

His approach has sparked criticism in Washington and the Middle East that the effort will fail without capable ground forces that can roll back the well-organised and well-financed militants.

Last week, the US Congress endorsed Obama’s plan to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels to battle the ISIL group, which has beheaded two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

The air strikes in Syria came as Kurdish militia fought to defend a key border town in northern Syria, after 130,000 terrified residents fled to Turkey to escape an ISIL jihadist advance.

* Agence France-Presse