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ISIS Revenue Sources Remain Crucial Target, U.S. Says Warplanes Blast Militants’ Refineries in Syria, Targeting a Source of Cash
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — American and coalition warplanes will continue to target the sources of revenue for the Islamic State after hitting 12 small oil refineries in eastern Syria overnight Thursday, Pentagon officials said, in the continuing effort to degrade the ability of the Sunni militant group to fund and carry out its operations. WASHINGTON — Warplanes from the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday attacked what military officials believe were the majority of the Islamic State’s oil refineries in Syria as part of the continuing effort to target sources of the terrorist group’s financing, Pentagon officials said.
Defense officials said that 16 American, Saudi and Emirati warplanes attacked what American military officials believe was the majority of the militant group’s oil refineries in Syria. The latest strikes came on the third day of the American-led air campaign in Syria. The strikes on the 12 small refineries came on the third day of the American-led air campaign in Syria, and early reports indicated that the attacks had crippled the plants in the eastern provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hasakah, Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said at a news conference.
Six of the planes were American and the other 10 were from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said Thursday at a news conference. On the first day of strikes, most of the bombing was done by American warplanes. He played a video and displayed aerial photographs of the strikes, which in at least one case left a refinery tower standing while destroying the buildings around it.
Officials with United States Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said the refineries in Syria produced 300 to 500 barrels of oil daily, generating as much as $2 million per day in black-market oil sales for the group’s operations, a higher estimate than American officials had previously made public. The Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIS or ISIL, is believed to control more than a dozen oil refineries in Syria. Still, Admiral Kirby and other military officials acknowledged shortcomings in the budding effort to roll back gains by the Islamic State, particularly given that there were no plans to send in American troops to capitalize on airstrikes.
In the news conference, Admiral Kirby showed a video and aerial photographs of the strikes, which in at least one case left a refinery tower standing while destroying buildings around it. Defense officials were still assessing the strikes, in the provinces of Deir al-Zour and Hasakah, but they said early indications were that they were successful. “We get caught up in the immediacy of these airstrikes,” Admiral Kirby said, “but this is going to take time, and nobody here in this building is not unaware of that.”
Admiral Kirby and other defense officials acknowledged the shortcomings of the budding effort to roll back gains by the Islamic State, particularly given that there were no plans to put American troops on the ground in Syria to capitalize on airstrikes. The strikes in Syria have been more intense than the attacks against Islamic State targets in Iraq, and the targets are different, too. In Iraq, American planes have, for the most part, bombed artillery positions, convoys and even individual patrol boats. The attacks in Syria have been concentrated on the Islamic State’s command and control structures and the sources of its revenues.
“We get caught up in the immediacy of these airstrikes,” Admiral Kirby said, “but this is going to take time and nobody here in this building is not unaware of that.” Officials with the United States Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said the refineries produced 300 to 500 barrels of oil daily, generating as much as $2 million per day in black-market oil sales for the group’s operations. That estimate is higher than American officials had previously made public, and would put the price around $333 per barrel. Oil sells for about $100 a barrel on the open market.
In Iraq on Thursday, American forces conducted 11 airstrikes on Islamic State fighters, armed vehicles, Humvees, a fighting position, four checkpoints, two guard towers and a command post west of Baghdad, according to United States Central Command. A defense official said that in Iraq, the performance of Iraqi security forces remained “mixed.” The Islamic State “is an organization that has both tooth and tail,” Admiral Kirby said, using the military terms for war fighters (tooth) and command, finance and logistical support (tail). “In Iraq, we’ve gone after their teeth. In Syria, we’re trying to cut off their tail.”
The strikes in Syria so far have differed from the airstrikes in on Islamic State targets in Iraq in both intensity and targeting, with American planes largely going after militant artillery positions, a handful of convoys and even individual patrol boats in Iraq. In Syria, American and coalition planes have targeted the Islamic State’s command and control structures and its revenue streams. Defense officials said the attacks on Thursday involved six American planes and 10 from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Admiral Kirby said. On Monday, the first day of the strikes, most of the bombing was done by American planes.
The Islamic State “is an organization that has both tooth and tail,” said Admiral Kirby, using military parlance for war fighters (tooth) and command, finance and logistical support (tail). “In Iraq, we’ve gone after their teeth. In Syria, we’re trying to cut off their tail.” Attacks also continued Thursday in Iraq, where American forces conducted 11 airstrikes on Islamic State fighters, armed vehicles, Humvees, a fighting position, four checkpoints, two guard towers and a command post west of Baghdad, according to Central Command. Iraqi security forces have worked with the Americans there, but their performance has been “mixed,” a military official said.
The strikes, however, did little to impede the advance of the Islamic State on Kurdish villages near the Turkish border, where tens of thousands have fled fearing a massacre. Artillery and heavy machine-gun fire could be heard from the border here in southern Turkey, sounding closer later in the day. Admiral Kirby said the Pentagon would investigate reports that civilians have been killed in the Syrian strikes, but he said American and coalition pilots and war planners took pains to carry out the attacks with precision. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said that the raids against the oil refineries had killed 14 militants as well as five civilians, including a child.
Kurdish militants defending the area said they were able to push the Islamic State back a few miles but issued a statement urging the American-led coalition to prove they “are serious” by striking the Islamic State there, offering to provide targeting coordinates. “We are aware of some reporting out there that there may have been civilian casualties, and we are taking a look at that,” Admiral Kirby said.
That, however, could be a delicate matter with Turkey, an American ally and NATO member that has remained vague about how it will participate in the fight against the Islamic State. Turkey views the Kurdish militants, affiliated with the P.K.K. — which Turkey lists as a terrorist group — with suspicion because of its long enmity with separatists among its own Kurdish population. Defense officials said that about 500 soldiers from the First Infantry Division will deploy to the region, and about 200 of them will be sent to joint operations centers in Erbil, in Kurdish-controlled Iraq, and Baghdad.
Redur Xelli, a spokesman for the Syrian Kurdish fighters, the Y.P.G., said the group had only light weapons and was outgunned by Islamic State bases equipped with heavy weapons. He said that the Islamic State weapons, vehicles and equipment “are in open air and visible to everyone, but yet they haven’t been targeted by the airstrikes.” The strikes have done little to impede the advance of the Islamic State on Kurdish villages near the Turkish border, where tens of thousands of people have fled, fearing a massacre. Artillery and heavy machine-gun fire could be heard from the border in southern Turkey, sounding closer later in the day.
He added, “If the U.S. and their alliance are serious,” the Y.P.G. is “willing to cooperate.” Kurdish militants defending the area said they were able to push the Islamic State back a few miles, but issued a statement urging the American-led coalition to prove they “are serious” by striking the Islamic State there. The Kurds offered to provide targeting coordinates.
In Deir al-Zour, a member of the Islamic State’s de facto local administration in the town of Qourieh said that the group’s headquarters had been evacuated last night, not long before it was hit by an airstrike. Such help could prove to be a delicate matter in relations with Turkey, an American ally and NATO member that has remained vague about how it will participate in the fight against the Islamic State. Turkey views the Kurdish militants — who are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey, known as the P.K.K., which Turkey and the United States list as a terrorist group — with suspicion because of the longtime tensions between the Turkish government and its own Kurdish population.
“All the headquarters have been evacuated,” he said. “The brothers have taken a new path. They decided to change the way they operate.” Redur Xelil, a spokesman for the People’s Protection Units, the Kurdish fighters in Syria also known as the Y.P.G., said the group had only light weapons and was outgunned by the Islamic State. He said that the Islamic State’s weapons, vehicles and equipment “are in open air and visible to everyone, but yet they haven’t been targeted by the airstrikes.”
He added, “It’s almost impossible to know where the brothers are. They disappeared, they became ghosts, their heavy weapons disappeared. Now they are only around Deir al-Zour airport and near the front lines.” “If the U.S. and their alliance are serious,” he added, the Y.P.G. is “willing to cooperate.”
On the Turkish side of the border — where there has been tension between the Turkish authorities, waves of Syrian Kurdish refugees and Turkish Kurds who want to enter Syria to join the fight — the scene was calmer on Thursday. A member of the Islamic State’s de facto local administration in the town of Qourieh said that the group’s headquarters had been evacuated last night, not long before it was hit by an airstrike.
But from a village near the border fence, the black flag of the Islamic State could be seen flying from a hillock. Jumaa Ali, 49, said he had earlier watched a man they suspected was an Islamic State militant climb into a border watchtower. He said Kurdish villagers were waiting for him to climb down in the hope of shooting him. “The brothers have taken a new path,” he said. “They decided to change the way they operate.”
“It’s dangerous now to live in this village,” he said, then added with a laugh, “But we can cut heads, too.” He added: “It’s almost impossible to know where the brothers are. They disappeared, they became ghosts, their heavy weapons disappeared. Now they are only around Deir al-Zour airport and near the front lines.”
The scene was calmer on the Turkish side of the border, where waves of Syrian Kurdish refugees and Turkish Kurds have arrived wanting to enter Syria to join the fight.
But from a village near the border fence, the black flag of the Islamic State could be seen flying from a hillock. Jumaa Ali, 49, said he had watched a man that villagers suspected as an Islamic State militant climb into a border watchtower. He said Kurdish villagers were waiting for him to climb down in the hope of shooting him.
“It’s dangerous now to live in this village,” he said, then added with a laugh, “but we can cut heads, too.”
Nearby, masked men checked cars. Residents said they were local Kurds who were extorting goods from Syrian Kurdish refugees as they made their way into Turkey.Nearby, masked men checked cars. Residents said they were local Kurds who were extorting goods from Syrian Kurdish refugees as they made their way into Turkey.
A mile or so away, as police checked refugees’ bags for weapons, Selin Unal, a spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency said that Turkey had accepted as many Syrian refugees since last Friday as Europe had throughout the three-year war. “This is a huge responsibility on Turkey,” she said. About a mile away, as police checked refugees’ bags for weapons, Selin Unal, a spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency, said that Turkey had accepted as many Syrian refugees since last Friday as Europe had throughout the three-year civil war. “This is a huge responsibility on Turkey,” she said.