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| U.S.-led airstrikes could open new fronts for Syrian battles against Islamic State | U.S.-led airstrikes could open new fronts for Syrian battles against Islamic State |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| BEIRUT — Syrian government forces drove back Islamic State fighters near Damascus, a report said Thursday, in a possible sign that President Bashar al-Assad’s military may step up offensives amid the wider fallout from U.S.-led airstrikes against the militants. | BEIRUT — Syrian government forces drove back Islamic State fighters near Damascus, a report said Thursday, in a possible sign that President Bashar al-Assad’s military may step up offensives amid the wider fallout from U.S.-led airstrikes against the militants. |
| On another front, Syrian Kurdish fighters appealed for warplanes to target Islamic State units gathering for another bid to gain control of a strategic town near the Turkish border. | |
| The air attacks by the U.S. and Arab partners launched this week in Syria have sought to deny the Islamic State its key bases and funding sources. On Wednesday, the Pentagon said warplanes and drones attacked at least a dozen small-scale refineries in eastern Syria used in oil smuggling that can bring in as much as $1 million a day. | The air attacks by the U.S. and Arab partners launched this week in Syria have sought to deny the Islamic State its key bases and funding sources. On Wednesday, the Pentagon said warplanes and drones attacked at least a dozen small-scale refineries in eastern Syria used in oil smuggling that can bring in as much as $1 million a day. |
| American officials said Assad’s envoys were notified in advance that the airstrikes would expand from northern Iraq to Syria. But the State Department insists there is no strategic coordination with Assad’s government, which has been fighting a more than three-year civil war against rebel factions that include groups backed by the West. | American officials said Assad’s envoys were notified in advance that the airstrikes would expand from northern Iraq to Syria. But the State Department insists there is no strategic coordination with Assad’s government, which has been fighting a more than three-year civil war against rebel factions that include groups backed by the West. |
| Assad’s government also views the Islamic State as the rising threat and could use the blows inflicted by the airstrikes as indirect help to open new ground battles against the militants. | Assad’s government also views the Islamic State as the rising threat and could use the blows inflicted by the airstrikes as indirect help to open new ground battles against the militants. |
| At the same time, President Barack Obama has urged for sharply increased military aid and training to “moderate” Syrian rebels as a potential proxy force against the Islamic State. The greater rebel firepower also could be turned against the Syrian government. | |
| But in a possible gain for Assad, government forces took control of an Islamic State foothold in an area about 19 miles northeast of Damascus. The report by Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV could not be independently verified, but Lebanon-based Hezbollah have helped support Assad by sending fighters to Syria. | But in a possible gain for Assad, government forces took control of an Islamic State foothold in an area about 19 miles northeast of Damascus. The report by Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV could not be independently verified, but Lebanon-based Hezbollah have helped support Assad by sending fighters to Syria. |
| The area of the reported fighting, Adra al-Omalia, has not been part of the U.S.-directed air campaign against the Islamic State and other groups such as an al-Qaeda-inspired splinter cell believed plotting to hit Western targets. | The area of the reported fighting, Adra al-Omalia, has not been part of the U.S.-directed air campaign against the Islamic State and other groups such as an al-Qaeda-inspired splinter cell believed plotting to hit Western targets. |
| In northern Syria, Kurdish fighters said Islamic State forces, backed by heavy weapons and vehicles, were opening another assault on the border town of Kobane, or Ayn al-Arab in Arabic. Kobane’s fall would give the militants control over an important stretch of the Syrian-Turkish frontier, one of the supply routes for the group. More than 130,000 people have fled the clashes. | |
| “[The] bases of ISIL and all their heavy weapons, vehicles and equipment are in the open air, visible to everyone, but yet they haven’t been targeted by the airstrikes,” said a statement from Redur Xelil, spokesperson of the People’s Protection Units, one of the Kurdish groups. | |
| The full extent of the air attacks in Syria remains unclear as they moved into a fourth day. But that overall contours of the strategy point to efforts to degrade the Islamic State’s arsenal, supply lines and main funding sources. | |
| On Wednesday, the U.S. fighter jets and drones, alongside warplanes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, struck refineries in eastern Syria. The sites are among oil facilities seized by the militants during their rapid advance in the past months. | On Wednesday, the U.S. fighter jets and drones, alongside warplanes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, struck refineries in eastern Syria. The sites are among oil facilities seized by the militants during their rapid advance in the past months. |
| The Islamic State is estimated to produce between 25,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil a day, earning as much as $1 million a day, according to industry experts. | The Islamic State is estimated to produce between 25,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil a day, earning as much as $1 million a day, according to industry experts. |
| In a separate attack, U.S. missiles targeted a Syrian stronghold of the Khorasan group, a cell believed composed of veteran al-Qaeda figures. American intelligence officials investigated reports that the group’s leader, Muhsin al-Fadhli, was killed in the attacks west of Aleppo. | |
| The United States has so far relied on Arab backing for the expanding air attacks. | The United States has so far relied on Arab backing for the expanding air attacks. |
| But France last week launched its first airstrikes on a suspected Islamic State logistics center in northern Iraq, and followed up Thursday with more attacks in Iraq, French media reported. The airstrikes came a day after a French citizen, Herve Gourdel, was beheaded by an Algerian Islamist group citing French military action against the Islamic State. | But France last week launched its first airstrikes on a suspected Islamic State logistics center in northern Iraq, and followed up Thursday with more attacks in Iraq, French media reported. The airstrikes came a day after a French citizen, Herve Gourdel, was beheaded by an Algerian Islamist group citing French military action against the Islamic State. |
| French officials called an emergency meeting Thursday and could discuss whether to expand its airstrikes to Syria, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio. | French officials called an emergency meeting Thursday and could discuss whether to expand its airstrikes to Syria, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio. |
| Other European nations, meanwhile, have taken steps to aid the international coalition. | Other European nations, meanwhile, have taken steps to aid the international coalition. |
| Germany’s defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, visited Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, whose fighters have been on the front lines against the Islamic State. Germany also began the delivery of military aid to the Iraqi Kurds, including 50 hand-held anti-tank weapons. | Germany’s defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, visited Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, whose fighters have been on the front lines against the Islamic State. Germany also began the delivery of military aid to the Iraqi Kurds, including 50 hand-held anti-tank weapons. |
| In the Netherlands — which is sending six F-16 fighter jets to join the air campaign — the defense minister advised military personnel not to wear their uniforms on public transportation because of fears of backlash from Islamist militants. | In the Netherlands — which is sending six F-16 fighter jets to join the air campaign — the defense minister advised military personnel not to wear their uniforms on public transportation because of fears of backlash from Islamist militants. |
| British Prime Minister David Cameron plans to ask parliament on Friday for approval to join the airstrikes. | British Prime Minister David Cameron plans to ask parliament on Friday for approval to join the airstrikes. |
| “We must not allow past mistakes to become an excuse for indifference or inaction,” Cameron said at the United Nations. “We are facing an evil against which the whole of the world should unite and as ever, in the cause of freedom, democracy and justice, Britain will play its part.” | “We must not allow past mistakes to become an excuse for indifference or inaction,” Cameron said at the United Nations. “We are facing an evil against which the whole of the world should unite and as ever, in the cause of freedom, democracy and justice, Britain will play its part.” |
| Murphy reported from Washington. | Murphy reported from Washington. |