Warplanes of
the U.S.-led coalition have struck Islamic State fighters in Syria
attacking a town near the Turkish border for the first time.
The
Islamic State group's assault on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani has
sent more than 100,000 refugees streaming across the border into Turkey
in recent days as Kurdish forces from Iraq and Turkey have raced to the
front lines to defend the town.
Nawaf
Khalil, a spokesman for Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD,
said the strikes targeted Islamic State positions near Kobani, also
known as Ayn Arab, destroying two tanks. He said the jihadi fighters
later shelled the town, wounding a number of civilians.

Along the
way, the militants have massacred captured Syrian and Iraqi troops,
terrorised minorities in both countries and beheaded two American
journalists and a British aid worker.
Labour's
decision to oppose military strikes against the Syrian regime last year
- leading Mr Cameron to abandon the proposal after suffering defeat in
the Commons - had 'emboldened' the West's enemies, Commons leader
William Hague said.
It had 'not helped perceptions of the west being ready to defend itself', he added.
Meanwhile
The Sunday Mirror has reported that MI6 has been in talks with Syrian
dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime over attacking ISIS fighters in Syria.
Spy chiefs have reportedly been negotiating with senior foreign office diplomats in the Syrian capital Damascus.

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Moments from destruction: The target, close to the Syria-Turkey border, before the bombs hit

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Destruction: A bright flash is seen as the target is struck by the airstrike

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the coalition's strikes near Kobani
came amid heavy fighting between the Islamic State group and members of
the Kurdish force known as the People's Protection Units
Both
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and David Cameron have insisted that
Britain will not strike deals with the Assad, whose regime is fighting
ISIS.
A
source told the paper: 'It may be there are no face-to-face meetings
with Assad himself but behind the double-speak of foreign relations it
is perfectly normal for them to see his senior people. It would be
staggering if Britain’s intelligence agencies were not talking to
Assad’s people.
'The talks they have within Syria are of invaluable benefit to Britain’s security.'
The
latest air strikes came as Syria's foreign minister Walid al-Moallem
told the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV that air strikes alone 'will not
be able to wipe out' the Islamic State group.
Speaking
from New York where he is attending the UN General Assembly, Mr
al-Moallem said that the U.S. should work with Damascus if it wants to
win the war.

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Flee: A Turkish soldier stands guarded
as Kurdish Syrian refugees wait to cross to Turkey in the
Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa
province of Turkey

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The United States and five Arab allies
launched an aerial campaign against Islamic State fighters in Syria
early on Tuesday with the aim of rolling back and ultimately crushing
the extremist group
'They
must know the importance of coordination with the people of this
country because they know what goes on there,' Mr al-Moallem said.
The
U.S. has ruled out any coordination with President Bashar Assad's
government, which is at war with the Islamic State group as well as
Western-backed rebels.
'YOU NEED A LAND ARMY': FORMER MILITARY CHIEF CLAIMS AIRSTRIKES ALONE WILL NOT DEFEAT ISIS

The former head of the UK military raised questions the effectiveness of isolated air attacks against ISIS militants.
Lord
Richards of Herstmonceux, a former head of the UK military who stepped
down as chief of the defence staff last year, told the Sunday Times that
the terror group would not be defeated by air attacks alone and that a
conventional campaign involving ground troops would be needed to crush
them.
Lord
Richards said: 'Ultimately you need a land army to achieve the
objectives we've set ourselves - all air will do is destroy elements of
IS, it won't achieve our strategic goal.
'The
only way to defeat IS is to take back land they are occupying which
means a conventional military operation. The only way to do it
effectively is to use western armies, but I understand the political
resistance.'
The
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the coalition's
strikes near Kobani came amid heavy fighting between the Islamic State
group and members of the Kurdish force known as the People's Protection
Units, or YPK.
The
Britain-based group, which relies on activists inside Syria, had no
immediate word on casualties from the strikes. The Observatory reported
yesterday that 13 civilians have been killed by the strikes since they
began.
Kurdish
fighter Majid Goran told the Associated Press by telephone from Kobani
that two bombs were dropped over the nearby village of Ali Shar but that
the positions they struck were empty.
Turkey's
Dogan news agency reported that the sound of heavy fighting could be
heard from the Turkish border village of Karaca. The agency said Kurdish
forces retook some positions they had lost to the Islamic militants a
few days ago.
Dozens of people wounded in the fighting arrived in Turkey for treatment, it said.
Another
Kurdish fighter, Ismet Sheikh Hasan, said the Turkish military
retaliated after stray shells landed on Turkish territory, firing in the
Ali Shar region. He said the Turkish action left Kurdish fighters in
the middle of the crossfire.
He
said that yesterday the Islamic militants were attacking the Kobani
area from the east with tanks and artillery, advancing on Ali Shar and
Haja. He said some 20 people were killed, including Kurdish fighters and
civilians, while another 50 people were wounded.
The
fighting around Kobani sparked one of the largest single outflows of
refugees since Syria's conflict began more than three years ago.

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Two RAF Tornado GR4's during the RAF's first combat mission against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq

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British warplanes flew their first
mission over Iraq since parliament authorised strikes against Islamic
State jihadists, but returned without bombing yesterday
The
Syrian Kurdish forces have long been one of the most effective fighting
units battling the Islamic State, but the tide has turned in recent
weeks as the Islamic militants have attacked with heavy weapons likely
looted from neighbouring Iraq.
The
Observatory said other coalition air strikes targeted Islamic State
compounds in the central province of Homs and the northern regions of
Raqqa and Aleppo. The group said 31 explosions were heard in the city of
Raqqa, the group's de facto capital, and its suburbs.
The
Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said the strikes
in the east hit the province of Deir el-Zour as well as Raqqa. The LCC
also said the coalition targeted grain silos west of Deir el-Zour city.
Max
Blumenfeld, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said the U.S. air
strikes 'don't target food or anything else than can be used by the
civilian population'.
But
he said that until the military reviews images from planes that
participated in the strikes, he could not rule out that silos were hit.

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A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter stands
guard near the Mullah Abdullah Bridge, located on the road between Irbil
and Kirkuk in Iraq. The tense standoff with the Islamic State militants
frustrates many of the young soldiers, even as other units make gains
with the help of U.S. and French airstrikes
He
said the air strikes are aimed at specific Islamic State targets such
as command and control centres, transportation and logistics, and oil
refineries, 'but not food that could have an impact upon the civilian
population'.
'Our targets are structures that combatants would use,' he said.
Mr
Blumenfeld later said the U.S. did target what he called an Islamic
State grain storage facility on Tuesday near Boukamal, a town close to
the Iraqi border which was seized by the Islamic State group earlier
this year.
Sniper HQ of Al-Qaeda group flattened by Coalition airstrikes
The headquarters of the deadly snipers of the Al-Nusra Front was reportedly destroyed by Coalition airstrikes over the weekend.
The
building, in a residential area of Al-Muhandisin district of Aleppo,
Syria, was flattened by a bomb. A number of other buildings were also
hit, and rescuers were pictured attempting to dig out people trapped
under rubble following the carnage.
The
Al-Nusra Front is Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria and has long been one
of the most effective forces fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
However
it was weakened this year by battles with Islamic State. The two share
the same ideology and rigid Islamic beliefs, but fell out during a power
struggle that pitted Islamic State head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi against al
Qaeda chief Ayman Zawahri and Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad
al-Golani.
But
U.S.-led air and missile strikes, which have hit Nusra as well as
Islamic State bases in Syria, have angered many members who say the West
and its allies have joined forces in a 'crusader' campaign against
Islam - so IS and Al-Nusra should do the same.

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The headquarters of the deadly snipers of the Al-Nusra Front was reportedly destroyed by Coalition airstrikes over the weekend

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Britain has now joined the air campaign being waged against IS by the U.S., France and Arab allies

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Collpase: Search and rescue team
members try to rescue a man, trapped under rubble of a building damaged
in Aleppo following the American-led coalition's airstrikes

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Shell: The airstrikes began on Tuesday. British MPs voted to join the attacks on Friday

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A mortar shell stands among the carnage after the airstrike
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