Syria ISIS Airstrikes: US State Dept Says Assad Was Advised But No Coordination Made, Syrian Fighters Say Airstrike Will Help Keep Assad Regime Alive (PHOTOS)
A Tomahawk cruise missile is launched against ISIL targets from the US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke, in the Red Sea September 23, 2014. Reuters/U.S. Navy/Carlos M. Vazquez

Australian fighter planes have targeted Islamic State in Syria by carrying out air strikes. A total of three air strikes have hit the nation – one targeted an oil collection point, second aimed at an IS tactical unit and a third strike was on an IS armoured personnel carrier, Defence Minister Kevin Andrews announced on Wednesday.

Andrews confirmed that a hornet fighter plane has damaged a Daesh armoured personnel carrier with a precision guided missile. “This is part of our logical extension in the fight against Daesh to operate not just over northern Iraq but also to operate over eastern Syria in order to degrade and destroy the Daesh forces,” he added via Daily Telegraph.

The news of conducting airstrikes targeting IS in Syria broke out as soon as the combined Joint Task Force in charge of Operation Inherent Resolve released a statement about the allied bombing campaign in Syria and Iraq against ISIS.

The defence minister claimed that Australian jet aircrafts were flying over Syria almost daily to keep a watch on the nation’s IS activities. He promised to provide further updates on the successful airstrikes in his regular ministerial statement. In addition, he said that updates on Middle East operations conducted by Australia will be presented in the Parliament on Wednesday.

A revolution against dictator Bashar al-Assad started the Syria civil war in 2011. Over 200,000 people have been killed with many losing their homes and fighting against Assad’s militant forces and other militant groups, including Islamic State.

Reports have suggested that Russia is working regularly on building up its Syrian air base to conduct its military aircraft activities smoothly. This, in turn, will support the embattled regime of Assad and hence collective effort of dealing with IS militants even more complicated.

The Joint Task Force is associated with the mission Operation Inherent Resolve. It claimed that Australia was also among the few nations that conducted airstrikes inside Syria. The statement also focused on the list of 15 air strikes carried out in Syria by other nations, including Bahrain, Jordan, the U.S., Canada, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and Turkey.

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