Social media rap on terror
US-backed operation crosses border to hit ISIS
SOCIAL media giants are “consciously failing” to block terrorists, MPs warn today.
A Commons Home Affairs Committee report claims extremists use popular sites as “the vehicle of choice in spreading propaganda”.
Chairman Keith Vaz said: “Corporations like Facebook and Twitter are consciously failing to tackle this threat and hiding behind their supranational legal status.”
TURKEY has launched a full-scale armoured assault in Syria, sending battle tanks over the border to attack both ISIS and Kurdish forces.
The operation is backed by large formations of warplanes providing air support to “friendly” Syrian rebel forces, who are battling Islamic State fighters.
Ankara’s operation, called Euphrates Shield, is aimed at smashing ISIS positions in Jarablus, the group’s only remaining stronghold near the border.
It is also taking on Kurdish militias in northern Syria, who along with the Islamic terror group, are suspected of launching a series of bomb attacks in Turkey.
The mission is backed by the US-led coalition. The incursion also opened corridors for Syrian opposition fighters, backed by Turkey, who mounted an assault.
Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu said: “We are determined to clear ISIS from the border.” The operation marks the first time Ankara’s ground forces have smashed through the border into Syria, apart from a brief operation early last year to rescue the tomb of an ancestor of the founder of the Ottoman empire. Turkey said it had hit 81 targets in northern Syria with F-16 warplanes and had also shelled ISIS positions.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said in a speech in Ankara: “At 4am this morning, operations started in the north of Syria against terror groups which constantly threaten our country.”
The government in Ankara said the operation was an act of self-defence, in response to ISIS shellings and bombings.
US Vice President Joe Biden yesterday tried to ease tensions between the States and Turkey as he offered solidarity with Ankara. He admitted he understands the “intense feeling” against US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey blames for the recent failed coup attempt.