The US President, Barack Obama on 11 September 2014 authorised US air strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in Syria for the first time. He also asked to escalate the airstrikes in Iraq. The aggressive offensive to combat ISIS, announcement came on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attack of World Trade Center.
This will be the first open-ended bombing campaign of the US against jihadist ISIS militants in Syria. As per the plan, the airstrikes will be a systematic campaign of against the group.
Obama in his speech said that the air strikes were necessary counter-terrorism action of the country to prevent the ISIS group to become a threat for the US in future, thus his order doesn’t need congressional approval. ISIS militants have captured a swath territory in northern parts of Iraq and Syria.
The US will also deploy 475 troops of advisers to help Iraqi forces to identifying further targets for air strikes. In August 2014, to halt the ISIS advances the US military launched more than 150 air strikes in Iraq.
Apart from this, the key ten Arab countries have agreed to help the US in its fight against the jihadist group, Islamic State (IS), after their talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Jeddah. They have promised to provide military support and humanitarian aid to the US to halt the flow of funds and foreign fighters to ISIS. Only, the NATO member, Turkey refused to join in the group of Arab nations that will support the US.
However, Russia has warned the US against expanding its campaign of air strikes from Iraq into its neighbouring country Syria, without the backing of the UN Security Council. It said that the US action would be an act of aggression and a gross violation of international law.
Besides, Syria also expressed reservations about the air strikes. It said that it was ready to cooperate only if US is ready to seek approval from the Syrian government
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