Wednesday, 24 September 2014
The U.S. military has launched air attacks on Islamic State forces inside
Syrian borders for the first time, a Pentagon officials confirmed Monday night.
"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,"
said Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby in a statement around 9:40pm ET. "
"Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional
details at this time."
Kirby also tipped the hat to several unnamed "partner nation forces." Several
Arab nations were involved in the bombing run, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United
Arab Emirates and Bahrain, according to the Washington Post.
He Associated Press reported Syria had been informed by Washington the
strikes were about to take place.
A statement released on Tuesday morning by Syrian state media said "the
American side informed Syria's permanent envoy to the UN that strikes will be launched a
against the Daesh terrorist organization in Raqqa."
The announcement that bombing had started wasn't news to one Twitter user,
who apparently witnessed the beginning of the strikes more than half an hour before the
Pentagon announced them.
Abdulkader Hariri's tweets, widely shared on the social media service, claimed
the airstrikes were taking place over his northern Syrian town of Raqqa:
