• The first two RAF Tornado jets involved in combat missions against Isis in northern Iraq have taken off from the RAF base at Akrotiri in Cyprus after MPs sanctioned a UK air assault against targets.
Prime
Minister David Cameron said that Britain was one part of a large
international coalition, adding that the “crucial part” of that
coalition is led by the Iraqi government. • US-led coalition warplanes have
struck jihadis attacking a town near the border between Syria and
Turkish for the first time, as well as positions including wheat silos,
activists and a Kurdish official said.
A spokesman for
Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD, said some of the strikes
targeted for the first time Islamic State group positions near the
northern town of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab. • President Barack Obama used his weekly address to say American leadership was “the one constant in an uncertain world”.
“America is leading the world in the fight to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group” known as Isis, Obama said. • New legislation, to be
introduced by the end of November, will give police in the UK powers to
seize the passports of people trying to join Isis, according to the Home
Secretary, Theresa May.
In an interview with The Times, she
says that the new laws will make it easier to prosecute those involved
in preparing terror acts abroad.
BBC Defence Correspondent Jonathan Beale has been keeping an eye out
from RAF Akrotiri and tweets the following seven hours after two RAF
Tornado jets took off (video below) from there en route for the skies above northern Iraq:
The understanding is that the jets did not set off with any specific
targets and, indeed, it’s possible that they did not attack any targets
at all.
We’re hoping to get some clarification on that from the Ministry of Defence in the coming hours.
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Two RAF Tornados are seen leaving the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus on Saturday, after MPs approved air strikes in Iraq
As British jets took off from Cyprus earlier today as part of combat missions against Isis in Iraq, US President Barack Obama was using his weekly address to say American leadership was “the one constant in an uncertain world”.
Obama said:
America is leading the world in the fight to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group.
I made it clear that America would act as part of a broad coalition,
and we were joined in this action by friends and partners, including
Arab nations.
US President Barack Obama says in his weekly address that US leadership
is leading the world in the fight to degrade ‘and ultimately destroy’
Isis.
US coalition-led warplanes have struck jihadist positions near the
Turkish border for the first time, according to the Associated Press.
Targets were said to include wheat silos in the country’s east, activists and a Kurdish official said.
Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party,
or PYD, said some of the strikes targeted for the first time Isis
positions near the northern town of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab.
The town has been under attack by jihadis for days and Khalil said
the strikes destroyed two tanks. He said the town was later shelled by
jihadis, wounding several civilians.
Away from the air and ground war against Isis, there’s also a digital war of course. The New York Times has an interesting piece
based on an interview with Richard A. Stengel, the US under secretary
of state for public diplomacy, who has been talking about how the US is
countering online propaganda with its own response.
Stengel, who joined the Obama administration in February after seven years as managing editor of Time magazine, said:
We have to be tougher, we have to be harder, particularly in the information space, and we have to hit back.
The report says that Stengel also recently met with officials from various Arab states to create what he called
a communications coalition, a messaging coalition, to complement what’s going on the ground.
Operations from the US side revolve around the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communication, which engages in online forums in Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi and Somali.
Posting on social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook,
members of the unit question claims made by Isis and draw attention to
alleged cases of jihadist brutality. Militant groups in other countries
including Somalia and Nigeria are also targeted.
That said, Charles Lister from the Brookings Doha Center tweets this:
Another image released by the Ministry of Defence shows two Tornado
GR4 aircrew preparing to depart this morning from RAF Akrotiri in
Cyprus.
The aircraft are armed with Paveway IV laser guided bombs and are operating as part of what is now known as Operation Shader.
RAF Tornado aircrew prepare to
depart from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus this morning as part of anti-ISIS
operations in the air over Iraq.Photograph: Ministry of Defence
More detail now on that RAF deployment. It involves two Tornado GR4
bombers supported by a Voyager air-to-air refueling aircraft. They took
off from RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus at 8.30am (UK time).
The Ministry of Defence said in a statement:
We can confirm that, following parliamentary approval given
yesterday, RAF Tornados continue to fly over Iraq and are now ready to
be used in an attack role as and when appropriate targets are
identified.
For operational security reasons we will not be providing a running
commentary on movements; we will provide an update on activity when it
is appropriate to do so.
The MOD has also published a picture of pilot boarding one of the aircraft this morning:
An RAF Tornado pilot entering an aircraft at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.Photograph: Ministry of Defence
RAF Tornados in air over Iraq and ready to attack
Two Tornado jets and a refuelling aircraft have taken off from the
RAF base at Akrotiri Cyprus, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defence
(MOD).
The MOD has just lifted an embargo on the reporting of the departure
of the aircraft this morning. It’s believed that they are still in the
air over Iraq at the moment.
The mission is an extension of the reconnaissance work which the
tornados have been doing for some time but they are now ready to be used
in an attack role following yesterday’s parliamentary vote.
Erdogan: Turkey could set up 'secure zone' in Syria
Turkish troops could be used to help establish a secure zone in Syria
if there was an international agreement to establish such a haven for
refugees fleeing Isis, according to the Turkish president, Tayyip
Erdogan.
In an interview with the Hurriyet newspaper on his way back from
attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Erdogan said:
The logic that assumes Turkey would not take a position militarily is wrong
In the distribution of responsibilities, every country will have a certain duty. Whatever is Turkey’s role, Turkey will play it.
You can’t finish off such a terrorist organisation only with
airstrikes. Ground forces are complementary ... You have to look at it
as a whole. Obviously I’m not a soldier but the air (operations) are
logistical. If there’s no ground force, it would not be permanent.
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