Britain steps up war on Daesh with Syria raids
PUTIN CALLS FOR ‘ONE POWERFUL FIST’ TO FIGHT TERRORISM
Pressure continued to mount on Daesh as Britain became the latest state to join the international coalition against it, with both Russia and the US stressing the need for a united front to take on the terror group.
British Tornado jets took off from a British base in Cyprus before dawn yesterday, hours after the British parliament voted 397-223 to support Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan to extend air strikes from Iraq to Syria. Britain said they struck oil fields used to fund Daesh.
Kerry for ground action
US Secretary of State John Kerry, meanwhile, called for Syrian and Arab ground troops to confront Daesh fighters to enable a complete defeat of the group. “I think we know it, that without the ability to find some ground forces that are prepared to take on Daesh, this will not be won completely from the air,” Kerry told delegates a gathering of dozens of foreign ministers in Belgrade.
Obama hails vote
Asked whether he was referring to Western or Syrian ground forces, he said: “Syrian and Arab, as we have been consistently saying”. Washington is however due to send 50 US special forces into Syria soon. He added that if a political transition takes place in Syria, a united front can defeat Daesh “in a matter of months”.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin too called for “one powerful fist” to fight terrorism. He called for an end to what he called double standards that hampered uniting global efforts in fighting terror. Without naming the United States, he accused Washington and its allies of turning Iraq, Syria and Libya into a “zone of chaos and anarchy threatening the entire world”.
US President Barack Obama hailed the vote by British lawmakers to join the air campaign against Daesh in Syria.
In a statement that also praised a German government decision to provide 1,200 military personnel to support the fight against the terror group, Obama praised a “special relationship” with Britain “rooted in our shared values and mutual commitment to global peace, prosperity, and security.”