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)

The United States and its allies have made their first airstrike against identified ISIS strongholds in Syria, an attack the State Department said was advised to President Bashar al-Assad.

No clearance or approval to strike, however, was purposely requested from Syria.

"We warned Syria not to engage U.S. aircraft," the WSJ quoted Jen Psaki, State Department spokeswoman. "We did not request the regime's permission. We did not coordinate our actions with the Syrian government." She added Syria was not given any specifics, including timing or targets, on the attacks.

During the actual strike, Army Lt. Gen. William C. Mayville Jr., the Pentagon's director for operations, believed Mr Assad and his government received their communication because the Syrian military's radar was "passive" during the strikes. There was no attempt to counter them, he said.

Abo Jilan, an activist in Syria, told WSJ the north-central city of Raqqah received 18 airstrikes, where seven directly struck the ISIS' main headquarters. It was "hugely damaged," Jilan said.

Despite the early wins, fighters of the main rebel Free Syrian Army are anxious the airstrikes will trigger off a vacuum on the ground that Assad's forces will only be most glad to overtake.

The airstrikes, instead of toppling Assad, could further catapult him into power, they said.

"There is a fear that the regime will exploit a military vacuum in areas of Islamic State control to realize military advances," Reuters quoted an unidentified commander in western Syria. "This will make the alliance appear to the people as the savior of the Assad regime."

In effect, the U.S. has given him more military and political support to keep his regime alive, FSA fighters said.

Colonel Hassan Hamadi, from the northern rebel forces known as the FSA Fifth Legion, warned the U.S.-led coalition to avoid civilian areas so as not to incur casualties. He also said that areas vacated by the ISIS should be immediately secured by FSA rebels.

"The regime plans to exploit the current situation, by taking the opportunity to massacre civilians and blame their deaths on coalition air strikes," a statement from Hamadi said.