US strikes IS after hostage horror
The United States sought to maintain pressure on jihadist militants in Iraq yesterday, launching air strikes after the murder of a journalist underlined the international threat posed by the Islamic State.
And, in the latest sign that a reluctant America could be dragged deeper into the fighting, officials revealed that US special forces had already carried out a failed hostage rescue mission inside Syria.
On Tuesday, the Islamic State released a video in which a militant with a British accent is seen beheading American journalist James Foley and threatening a second US hostage. The man said Foley was killed to avenge US air strikes against IS.
The murder has stoked fears in Britain and beyond that the territory that IS militants have seized in Syria and northern Iraq could become a launching pad for a new round of global extremist attacks.
US President Barack Obama called on countries in the region to join with the United States to "extract the cancer" of the Islamic State's jihadist ideology.
In six bombings near a dam north of Mosul yesterday, US warplanes damaged three Humvee armored trucks, another vehicle and several roadside bomb "emplacements," Central Command said.
The US military has conducted 90 air strikes in Iraq since August 8.
Separately, officials confirmed that in recent months US special forces had carried out a raid inside eastern Syria to try to rescue people held hostage by IS militants, reportedly including Foley.
The White House and Pentagon released statements on Wednesday confirming that President Barack Obama personally authorised the July mission, which culminated in a firefight between militants and more than 20 Delta Force commandos, one of whom received a “minor injury”.
The raid on an oil refinery in northern Syria was ultimately unsuccessful because the hostages, thought to have been held there in the weeks leading up to the operation, had recently been moved.
Foley, 40, was a freelance reporter and videographer who worked predominantly for GlobalPost. He was kidnapped with another journalist close to Syria's border with Turkey in November 2012.
GlobalPost yesterday said his jihadist captors had demanded a ransom of 100 million euros for his release.
It said the captors made contact with GlobalPost and the Foley family fewer than half a dozen times, and "the kidnappers never really negotiated" over their huge sum, but simply made their demand.
GlobalPost CEO Philip Balboni said he and the family provided all information about their search for Foley and their contact with his captors to authorities at the FBI and State Department. The US government states it does not pay ransoms for hostages.
Interpol has called for a global response to IS threat, with monitors covering the conflict in Syria saying the Islamic State has more than 50,000 fighters in that country alone, including 20,000 foreigners.
In Britain, police are analysing footage of Foley's death for clues amid suggestions that the extremist - who has been reportedly identified by a former hostage as "John" - is from London.
The former hostage, who was held for a year in the Syrian town of Raqqa, told The Guardian the killer was the ringleader of a trio of UK-born extremists the captives nicknamed "The Beatles" because of their nationality.
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