The US military said on Tuesday it had launched airstrikes on the Islamic State (Isis) in Syria and at least one other militant group based in the country.
A Pentagon statement said the 14 strikes against Isis targets were carried out with Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Jordan confirmed it its airforce had “destroyed a number of targets that belong to some terrorist groups that sought to commit terror acts inside Jordan” without making explicit reference to Syria.
The Syrian foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the US informed its UN envoy before launching the strikes.
Raqqa, an Isis stronghold, was among the targets of the operation, which began in the early hours of Tuesday morning local time. The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdulrahman, told Reuters by telephone in Beirut that the air strikes hit checkpoints in Raqqa city and surrounding areas. Dozens of Isis fighters were killed or wounded in the attacks, he said.
Fighter jets, bomber aircraft and Tomahawk missiles were used in an operation the Pentagon press secretary, rear admiral John Kirby, described as “ongoing”.