US strikes on as UK weighs action
US warplanes launched new air strikes against jihadists in Syria and Iraq yesterday as Britain considered joining the military campaign against ISIS.
American planes destroyed four tanks operated by militants in Syria as well as several vehicles and jihadist positions in neighbouring Iraq, the Pentagon said.
The coalition also bombed oil facilities in east and northeast Syria where ISIS jihadists extract crude for sale on the black market, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.
In recent days Washington and its allies have taken aim at the funding sources of what US President Barack Obama has branded a "network of death".
Experts say sales of oil from Syria and Iraq earn ISIS between $1 million and $3 million a day.
Obama is eager to build the broadest possible coalition to tackle ISISI or Islamic State (IS) which has captured large areas in Syria and Iraq, declaring an Islamic "caliphate".
FBI director James Comey said there was "no doubt" that jihadists would try to stage revenge attacks in the United States.
"The logic is that if they aspire to be the leader of the global jihad you don't get there without striking America," he said.
'NO SHOCK AND AWE'
British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that the military action could last years, as parliament debated whether to participate in strikes in Iraq.
The "hallmarks" of the campaign would be "patience and persistence, not shock and awe", he said.
If, as expected, the British parliament votes to take part, the Royal Air Force will join jets from the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan hitting ISIS targets.
Both France and Britain have ruled out carrying strikes in Syria however, unlike the Arab allies taking part in the aerial campaign.
Denmark said it would send seven F-16 fighter jets to help combat ISIS militants in Iraq, joining Belgium and the Netherlands which also plan to deploy six planes each.
The Netherlands will also provide 250 military personnel and 130 trainers for the Iraqi military, and Greece said it would send arms to Kurdish forces battling the jihadists.
Turkey has so far declined to take part in military action, and denied claims its airspace or airbases have been used by coalition forces.
But Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would support "any military operation or a solution (that) carries the perspective of bringing peace and stability to the region."
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, however, on Thursday blamed Western "blunders" for creating extremist havens, and said outside interference would not solve the problem.
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