Foreign Ministry: U.S. Informed Syria Prior to Conducting Air Strikes Against ISIL

DAMASCUS, (ST)-The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates announced today that the United States has informed Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN that strikes will target the terrorist organization called Daesh (ISIL) in Raqqa Governorate.

SANA correspondent in Raqqa reported that American warplanes started today morning to launch air strikes against positions of the ISIL terrorists in Raqqa.

According to a Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Walid al-Moallem yesterday received a message from his American counterpart John Kerry through the Iraqi Foreign Minister informing him that America will target ISIL positions in Syria.

“After Syria had repeatedly stressed its readiness to cooperate in the fight against terrorism within the framework the complete respect to Syria’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the United States yesterday informed Syria’s representative to the United Nations that the U.S. and some of its allies will target positions of Daesh terrorist organization in Syria,” the ministry statement said.   

The statement affirmed that Syria has been fighting the ISIL in Raqqa, Deir EzZour other and other areas in the country and it won’t stop fighting this organization in cooperation with the countries directly and indirectly affected by terrorism, particularly Iraq.

The ministry affirmed that cooperation between Syria and Iraq continues at the highest level to confront this organization in implementation of the unanimously adopted international Resolution 2170.

Concluding the statement, the ministry reiterated the need that any international effort to combat terrorism should take the safety of civilians and the state’s national sovereignty into consideration in accordance with international conventions.

The Pentagon said late Monday that the US army and its “partner” nations have carried out the first air strikes against ISIL targets in Syria, western media reported.

“I can confirm that U.S. 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,” Rear Admiral John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.

According to Kirby, the decision to conduct theses strikes was made earlier on Monday by the U.S. Central Command commander under authorization granted by US President Barack Obama.

The U.S. military said on Tuesday its partners in air strikes against ISIL terrorists in Syria included Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The US Central Command said in a statement that the United States had launched strikes from warships in international waters in the Red Sea and the Gulf.

Jordan Confirms Participation  

Meanwhile, Jordan affirmed the participation of its planes in the air raids against ISIL in Syria.

AFP quoted the Jordanian Minister of Information and the government’s spokesman as saying: “we took part in the raids and our participation is part of the battle to eradicate terrorism.”   

Hamda Mustafa