America and
five Arabic countries have launched dozens of air strikes again Islamic
terrorist group ISIS, killing at least 20 militants and blasting a
series of its bases.
The
attacks - described as 'shock without awe' - began early this morning
local time, with Tomahawk missiles, B1 bombers, F16, F18 and F22 strike
fighters and drones involved. A total of 50
American
air power was backed by warplanes from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar,
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, all of whom are determined to
destroy ISIS, which they see as a threat to their own governments.
News
of the airstrikes comes as ISIS' highly-organized press office released
a second propaganda video appearing to feature captured British hostage
John Cantlie.
The
journalist - wearing a Guantanamo Bay-style orange jumpsuit - is filmed
questioning America's preparation for attacks on ISIS, and compares the
'unwinnable' conflict to the Vietnam War.
Scroll down for video
Blast: Video emerged early this on
Syrian Facebook pages showing what appears to be the US-led airstrikes
in Syria against Islamic State targets in and around the city of Raqqa
Littered: A man inspects the remains
of what Islamist State militants say was a U.S. drone which crashed into
a communication tower in Raqqa overnight
Destroyed: People
inspect a shop damaged after a U.S. drone crashed into a communication
station in Raqqa in the early hours of this morning, according to ISIS
fighters
Debris: A van loaded with the remains of the alleged U.S. drone is seen inside the city of Raqqa this morning
The remains of the alleged drone was packed with wires and circuit boards with English-language safety labels
Air
strikes were launched from land bases in the Middle East, while the F18s
were launched from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, which is
in the Persian Gulf.
Tomahawks were fired from the USS Arleigh Burke, a guided missile destroyer in the Red Sea.
The
first wave of strikes lasted for 90 minutes and one video on social
media showed blasts across Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic
state.
Among
the targets which reports from social media claimed had been hit were
the city's governor's house, national hospital and the Equestrian Club.
One account said 20 of the militant group's fighters had been killed in the strikes.
Other targets were hit in Deir al-Zor province in the north of Syria, where ISIS have gained territory.
And areas held by the al-Qaeda group called Al-Nusra Front in Aleppo and Idlib were also struck, sources said.
Just the
beginning? Along with partner nations Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates and Jordan, the strikes began in the ISIS stronghold city
of Raqqa
Official: Kirby said the military and
its partners are attacking with a mix of fighter jets, bombers and
Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from ships in the region
Target: With the
aid of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the U.S.
chose to strike the ISIS-held Syrian city of Raqqa (pictured) first late
Monday and into Tuesday
Propaganda: News of the airstrikes
came as ISIS released a second video (pictured) featuring British
hostage John Cantlie in which he criticises preparations for U.S-led
attacks on them
Second release: In the five-minute
scripted video, Cantlie suggests Barack Obama, long careful to avoid the
sort of conflicts his predecessor George Bush pursued, is being sucked
into an 'unwinnable war'
Pentagon
press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said the decision to launch the
strikes was made on Monday, only hours before US Air Force and Navy
pilots were given their missions and targets.
Kirby
said the strikes were ordered by Army General Lloyd Austin, the
commander of US forces in the Middle East and South Asia 'under
authorisation granted to him by the commander in chief'.
The
first strikes began around 8:30 p.m. EDT - 1.30am in the UK and 4.30am
in Syria - but the operation was expected to continue for several more
hours, according to one U.S. official.
Kirby
did not name the partner nations participating in the operation but
they are now known to be the five Gulf nations and Jordan.
All of them are majority Sunni, the same branch of Islam as ISIS. Britain and France were not involved in the strikes.
Details
of the airstrikes emerged as ISIS released a new propaganda video
featuring John Cantlie, in which the captured British journalist
criticises preparations for U.S-led attacks on the militant group.
In
the five-minute scripted video, Cantlie suggests Barack Obama, long
careful to avoid the sort of conflicts his predecessor George Bush
pursued, is being sucked into an 'unwinnable war'.
'The
president once called George Bush's Iraq conflict a 'dumb war', and
couldn't wait to distance America from it when he came into power. Now
he's being inextricably drawn back in,' Cantlie says.
Rolling out the Raptor: According to
reports, the $139million F-22 stealth fighter jet saw combat for the
first time ever during the strikes over Raqqa. Two of the jets are
pictured here, over Guam
The aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush
is pictured here. It is currently in the Persian Gulf and may have been a
launching point for some of the aircraft that struck at Syria on Monday
(FILE)
Tomahawk: Military officials a
revealed that Tomahawk missiles (file photo of the sea-to-land missile
seen here) were being launched at Syrian targets from the Persian Gulf
and Red Sea
'We will provide more details later as operationally appropriate,' Kirby said.
Military
officials have said the U.S. would target militants' command and
control centers, re-supply facilities, training camps and other key
logistical sites.
An
anti-militant media collective called 'Raqqa is being silently
slaughtered' said among the targets were Islamic State buildings used as
the group's headquarters, and the Brigade 93, a Syrian army base that
the militants recently seized. Other airstrikes targeted the town of
Tabqa and Tel Abyad in Raqqa province, it said. Their claims could not
be independently verified.
ISIS is the bully, and we just punched him in the nose
According to ABC News' Luis Martinez, the stealth F-22 Raptor fighter jet saw its first combat ever with the Raqqa strikes.
The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad was said to have been 'informed' of the strikes, but not asked for authorisation.
Syria's
Foreign Ministry told the Associated Press that the U.S. informed
Syria's envoy to the U.N. that 'strikes will be launched against the
terrorist Daesh group in Raqqa'.
Daesh is the name ISIS goes by in Arabic.
Former Delta Force officer James Reese told CNN:
'This is the punch in the nose to the bully that we talked about on the
playground. ISIS is the bully, and we just punched him in the nose.'
'We
will be prepared to strike ISIL targets in Syria that degrade ISIL's
capabilities,' Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, told senators last week, using one of the acronyms for the
Islamic State group. 'This won't look like a shock-and-awe campaign,
because that's simply not how ISIL is organized, but it will be a
persistent and sustainable campaign.
Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the plan 'includes targeted actions
against ISIL safe havens in Syria, including its command and control
logistics capabilities and infrastructure.' He said he and Dempsey
approved the plan.
The
U.S. has also been increasing its surveillance flights over Syria,
getting better intelligent on potential targets and militant movements.
Strong presence: Military leaders have
said about two-thirds of the estimated 31,000 Islamic State militants
were in Syria. The U.S. has also been increasing its surveillance
flights over Syria, getting better intelligent on potential targets and
militant movements
Retribution: ISIS (troops pictured
here in Raqqa), meanwhile, has threatened retribution. Its spokesman,
Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, said in a 42-minute audio statement released
Sunday that the fighters were ready to battle the U.S.-led military
coalition and called for attacks at home and abroad
Vowing to stop ISIS: In a speech Sept.
10, Obama vowed to go after the Islamic State militants wherever they
may be. And his military and defense leaders told Congress last week
that airstrikes within Syria are meant to disrupt the group's momentum
and provide time for the U.S. and allies to train and equip moderate
Syrian rebels
LIVE TWEETING SYRIA AIRSTRIKE? RAQQA RESIDENT DESCRIBES 'SKY FULL OF DRONES' AS SYRIANS POST EVIDENCE THE ASSAULT HAS BEGUN
A
Syrian man may have been first to break the news of America and its
partners' air assault on the ISIS-controlled hubs on the Middle Eastern
nation.
According to Vox, Twitter user and resident of Raqqa--where the military says its started the air assault on Syria--Abdulkader Hariri (@3bdUlkaed6r) first started tweeting what he saw some 30 minutes before American news reported the strikes.
Hariri
describes not only manned aircraft, but also drones in his posts. The
U.S. did not mention the use of these unmanned aircraft in its official
announcement of the airstrikes.
Just
after the strikes were to have begun, Syrian activist news agency Step
posted a brief but startling video that purports to show the bombing of
Raqqa.
Military leaders have said about two-thirds of the estimated 31,000 Islamic State militants were in Syria.
In
a speech Sept. 10, Obama vowed to go after the Islamic State militants
wherever they may be. And his military and defense leaders told Congress
last week that airstrikes within Syria are meant to disrupt the group's
momentum and provide time for the U.S. and allies to train and equip
moderate Syrian rebels.
'I
have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our
country, wherever they are,' Obama said. 'That means I will not hesitate
to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core
principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no
safe haven.'
The
U.S. military has been launching targeted airstrikes in Iraq since
August, focusing specifically on attacks to protect U.S. interests and
personnel, assist Iraqi refugees and secure critical infrastructure.
Last week, as part of the newly expanded campaign, the U.S. began going
after militant targets across Iraq, including enemy fighters, outposts,
equipment and weapons.
Fleeing: Syrians carry their
belongnings near the Syrian border Sunday near the southeastern town of
Suruc in Sanliurfa province, Turkey as the Turkish deputy Prime Minister
said some 60,000 Syrian had fled across the border as Islamic State
(IS) militants shelled villages close to the border
Getting desperate: Thousands of
Kurdish men, women and children are pictured carrying their belongings
as they poured into Sanliurfa, on Saturday. ISIS has seized control of
Kurdish regions in the north of the country and intensified their
assault on Kobani, a town in a strategic position along the northern
border
To date U.S. fighter aircraft, bombers and drones have launched about 190 airstrikes within Iraq.
Urged
on by the White House and U.S. defense and military officials, Congress
passed legislation late last week authorizing the military to arm and
train moderate Syrian rebels. Obama signed the bill into law Friday,
providing $500 million for the U.S. to train about 5,000 rebels over the
next year.
U.S.
leaders have also been crisscrossing the globe trying to build a broad
international coalition of nations, including Arab countries, to go
after the Islamic State group and help train and equip the Iraqi
security forces and the Syrian rebels.
The
militant group, meanwhile, has threatened retribution. Its spokesman,
Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, said in a 42-minute audio statement released
Sunday that the fighters were ready to battle the U.S.-led military
coalition and called for attacks at home and abroad.
Catalyzing: The beheading American
journalist James Foley and two other Westerners helped catalyze public
fury over the increasing power of ISIS in Syria and elsewhere
Demanding a fight: The beheadings of American Steven Sotloff (left) and David Haines (right) have further enraged Westerners
WILL MIDDLE EASTERN NATIONS MAKE OR BREAK THE BATTLE AGAINST ISIS? U.S. OFFICIALS SAY ARAB NATION PARTNERS WILL BE CRITICAL ALLIES
Two
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Arab
participation was essential for Obama as he looked to expand the
American campaign of air strikes to Syria from Iraq, where the U.S.
military has already carried out 190 strikes as of Monday.
Several
Arab countries have offered to join the United States in air strikes
against Islamic State targets, a senior U.S. official told reporters on
Sept. 14.
But
the United States has so far refused to detail which nations have given
private assurances to Washington that they would join in air strikes in
Syria, part of a broader strategy against the Islamic State that
includes training and arming moderate Syrian opposition fighters.
U.S.
Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in television
interviews over the weekend that other nations were willing to join air
strikes in Syria.
Vital allies: All the U.S. partners in
the airstrikes against Syria are Middle Eastern nations. They are Saudi
Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and Bahrain. Here, Saudi Foreign Minister
Prince Saud Al-Faisal, second from right, and U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry, left, and their representatives, pause for photos at the end
of their meeting in New York on Monday
'I
will make you a prediction,' Power said on ABC. 'We will not do the air
strikes alone if the president decides to do the air strikes.'
Several
Arab states have powerful air forces, including Saudi Arabia and United
Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia, for example, has also already agreed to
host U.S. training of Syrian opposition fighters.
But
many Gulf Arab states have been reluctant to be seen aggressively
joining the U.S. campaign in Iraq and Syria, fearing in some cases
reprisals by extremists or forces loyal to the Syrian government.
The White House last week declined to 'telegraph' when strikes might occur or what preconditions stood in the way.
Obama
will give a speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday to make
the case again for world action against Islamic State.
Powerful air force: Seen here is a Royal Saudi Air Force Panavia Tornado IDS, part of the nation's substantial air fleet
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