France Launches Fierce Assault on ISIL Positions in Syria

The French Ministry of Defense announced massive airstrikes against Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, ISIL’s center in Syria. The strikes began a day after ISIL claimed responsibility for the coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people and wounding many more.

A French Defense Ministry statement said the operations were launched from bases in the UAE and Jordan and was conducted in coordination with U.S. forces, which have been conducting repeated airstrikes against ISIL in and around Raqqa.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari said Iraqi intelligence had obtained information before the Paris attacks that the Islamic State was planning an imminent strikes overseas that may have been aimed at France, the United States, and Iran.

In Tehran, Iranian Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi warned the recent ISIL attacks in Paris and Beirut are “a serious alarm to us too.” Alavi added Iran is exercising more “vigilance.”

Syrian Government Launches Air Raids on Raqqa

Syrian warplanes mounted several air strikes on the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa on Thursday. The government attacks on Raqqa, the de-facto ISIL capital in Syria, were the first in years and could signal a newly found sense of urgency in Damascus to confront ISIL as the main threat. The government in the past concentrated on fighting the moderate and hardline opposition forces, seemingly conceding eastern Syria to ISIL.

U.S.-led coalition air forces have been targeting Raqqa, waging waves of airstrikes on ISIL positions in the city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian military today mounted at least 11 air strikes on Raqqa. (Reuters, 17 September)

File photo: Raqqa after a U.S.-led airstrike on 5 July 2015 (CNN)

U.S. airstrikes in Raqqa Hinders ISIL Ability to Stop Kurdish Advances

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said in Washington on Monday that a flurry of U.S. airstrikes around Raqqa, Syria, over the weekend were aimed at disturbing the ability of ISIL to hinder territorial advances by Syrian Kurdish fighters north of the city.

The U.S.-led coalition hit Raqqa, the de-facto capital of ISIL in Syria, with 18 airstrikes on Saturday, destroying 16 bridges as well as tactical units and vehicles.

Carter said the airstrikes were aimed at limiting ISIL’s “freedom of movement and ability to counter those capable Kurdish forces” that have made advances in northern Syria.

“That’s the matter in which effective and lasting defeat of ISIL will occur, when there are effective local forces on the ground that we can support and enable so that they can take territory, hold territory and make sure good governance comes in behind it,” Carter added. (AFP/Daily Star, 5 July)

The Kurdish YPG forces, which famously fought ISIL in Kobane and defeated them earlier this year, have recently gained significant territory, including the capture of the town of Tal Abyad, cutting the main highway between Raqqa and Turkey to the north and curbing the flow of foreign fighters to ISIL. The ground advances have enabled the YPG to form a contiguous Kurdish land in northern Syria, a key step to creating an autonomous Kurdish state.

File photo: FA-18 Super Hornets (Wikipedia)

Air Campaign against Islamic State in Syria

The United States and five Arab partner nations, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan, today launched wide-ranging air campaign against ISIL positions and those of other jihadist groups in Syria.

The airstrikes targeted ISIL headquarters, groups’ bases, training camps and checkpoints in at least four provinces. The focus of strikes, however, was the city of Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital, and other positions in the northern province of Raqqa, the ISIL bastion in the country. ISIL headquarters and checkpoints in Raqqa City and its western and northern countryside were hit. ISIL HQ building was destroyed.

Also targeted were ISIL positions in provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hasaka, whose oil wells have been exploited by the Islamic State to finance its operations. ISIL positions in Aleppo were also hit.

U.S. also targeted other jihadist groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra and Khorasan Group, a network of al-Qaeda veterans who have established a base in Syria. CENTCOM said the U.S. airstrikes disrupted  “imminent” attack by Khorasan Group against U.S. and Western targets. Reports from the area also indicate that one of prominent al-Nusra fighters, Abu Yousif al-Turkey, was killed in last night attacks. 

A mix of fighter, bomber, UAV, and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) were used to conduct 14 strikes in the country, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported.

47 TLAMs were launched from USS Arleigh Burk and USS Philippine Sea operating in the Red Sea and North Persian Gulf, CENTCOM said.

Stealth F-22 Raptor fighter jets made first combat appearance during the airstrikes in Syria.

File photo: F-22 Raptor (Lockheed Martin)

Islamic State Militants Reportedly Capture An Army Base in Syria

The Islamic State militants today reportedly captured the headquarters of the Syrian army’s 17^th Division in northeastern Syria near the city of Raqqa. The New York Times said the assault on the army base began on Thursday. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the government troops abandoned the base, leaving behind the bodies of scores of soldiers. There are reports of large cache of arms and military hardware falling in the hands of the militants. Other reports indicate that at least a part of the base was still in the hands of government forces.

The capture of the 17^th Division headquarters would be a significant win for IS insurgents, providing significant amount of ammunition and military hardware for their future battles in Syria, but also inside Iraq; the IS controls major line of communications linking eastern Syria and northern Iraq. 

An IS fighter reached by phone in Raqqa told the New York Times that the assault began with two suicide bombers driving into the base in separate attacks and detonating explosives. The militants then stormed the HQ building.

“We lost 13 martyrs in these battles,” the fighter said. He added that the ISIS dead included seven Syrians. (The New York Times, 25 July)

The Division 17 complex had been the target of previous attacks, but all had been foiled before this latest assault.

File photo: IS militants in the city of Raqqa, Syria. (Aljazeera)