Tag Archives: IS

Turkish President Threatens Unilateral Actions Against IS Group In Syria

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President Recep Erdogan on Thursday has said Turkey is prepared to take unilateral actions against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria to protect its southern border town Kilis from IS attacks.

Erdogan complained that the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition has not provided Turkey with the desired support.

“We are making necessary preparations in order to clear across the border.

“Turkey will not wait while we have martyrs every day, I would like to say that we will not hesitate to take unilateral steps on this issue.

“The issue of Kilis would be “litmus paper” for revealing the sincerity of coalition partners in the fight against the IS group.

“Recalling that the jihadist group fires rocket projectiles at Kilis almost every day,’’ Erdogan said, adding that some 130 people have been killed in IS attacks in Turkey.

He said that the Turkish army has hit 3,000 IS targets in Syria and destroyed 1,300 of its positions there.

In recent weeks, Kilis has been repeatedly hit by rocket fire from IS-controlled territories inside Syria.

According to figures provided by the Turkish Armed Forces, rockets fired from Syria have been fallen in Kilis since mid-January, killing 20 people, including seven Syrians refugees, and injuring 66 others, including 17 Syrians.

Meanwhile, the IS has orchestrated a number of suicide bombings in Turkey’s capital, Istanbul and other provinces, leaving hundreds killed.

 

(Xinhua/NAN)

Kurds Hold off I.S. in Kobani as Fighters Strike in Iraq

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 Kurdish defenders held off Islamic State militants in Syria’s border town of Kobani on Sunday, but the fighters struck with deadly bombings in Iraq, killing dozens of Kurds in the north and assassinating a provincial police commander in the west.

The top U.S. military officer suggested that Washington, which has ruled out joining ground combat in either Iraq or Syria, could nevertheless increase its role “advising and assisting” Iraqi troops on the ground in the future.

U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said in a television interview that Turkey agreed to let bases be used by coalition forces for activities inside Iraq and Syria and to train moderate Syrian rebels in the fight against Islamic State.

A U.S.-led military coalition has been bombing Islamic State fighters who hold swathes of territory in both Iraq and Syria, countries involved in complex multi-sided civil wars in which nearly every country in the Middle East has a stake.

After days of Islamic State advances, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Kobani’s Kurdish defenders had managed to hold their ground. The Observatory said 36 Islamic State fighters, all foreigners, were killed the previous day, while eight Kurdish fighters had died. The figures could not be independently verified.

 

Arab Nations Join U. S. Fight I. S.

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KERI

Ten Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, have agreed to support the US in tackling the threat posed by the Islamic State.

After talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Jeddah, they agreed to help stop the flow of funds and foreign fighters to IS. Kerry is trying to build a coalition against the militants, who control large parts of Syria and Iraq.

US President Barack Obama has threatened action against IS, and Mr Kerry has been tasked with trying to build a regional coalition against the militants. As the meeting in Jeddah broke up, a joint statement declared a “shared commitment to stand united against the threat posed by all terrorism” including IS.

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Arab states taking part were Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. NATO member Turkey was also represented, but did not sign the statement.

Speaking on Wednesday,  Obama said any group that threatened America would “find no safe haven”. He also announced that 475 US military personnel would be sent to Iraq but would not have a combat role.

However the Russian foreign ministry said these planned action, without the backing of the UN, would be “an act of aggression” and a “gross violation” of international law.