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TERROR WARS
Allies finalize plans to defeat IS group
By Nicolas REVISE, Laurent BARTHELEMY
Washington (AFP) July 20, 2016


Syria opposition asks anti-IS coalition to halt strikes
Beirut (AFP) July 20, 2016 - Syria's opposition appealed Wednesday to the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group to halt its air strikes after dozens of civilians were killed in raids near an IS-held town.

In a letter to the alliance's foreign ministers, National Coalition president Anas al-Abdah demanded "an immediate suspension of the military operations of the international (anti-IS) coalition in Syria to allow for a thorough investigation of these incidents".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Tuesday said that children were among at least 56 civilians killed in strikes by the coalition as they fled Al-Tukhar in Aleppo province, near the key IS stronghold of Manbij.

"We believe that such incidents indicate a major loophole in the current operational rules followed by the international coalition in conducting strikes in populated areas," said the letter.

"It is essential that such investigation not only result in revised rules of procedure for future operations, but also inform accountability for those responsible for such major violations," it added.

Al-Abdah strongly condemned the "massacre" and held the international coalition totally responsible for what he called "the crimes that took place in Manbij".

"The Syrian people, as you are aware, have been murdered, maimed and tortured for over five years now at the hands of (President Bashar al-)Assad's murderous regime, Russia, Iran and allied militias in addition to ISIS and terrorist groups."

Al-Abdah warned the killing of Syrians now at the hands of the international coalition "will only push them further into a spiral of despair and, more importantly, will prove to be a recruitment tool for terrorist organisations."

US pledges openness on civilian casualties in Syria
Andrews Air Force Base, United States (AFP) July 20, 2016 - Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday pledged openness on allied accountability a day after dozens of civilians were killed in raids near an IS-held town in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday that children were among at least 56 civilians killed in strikes by the coalition as they fled Al-Tukhar in Aleppo province, near the key Islamic State group stronghold of Manbij.

"We will conduct an investigation on any possible civilian casualties in this matter, as we always do, and we'll be transparent about that," Carter told a briefing at this air base outside Washington.

General Joe Votel, head of Centcom said allies would " continue to do all we can to protect civilians from harm," at the same news conference.

"It is an extraordinarily dynamic situation up around Manbij right now, as we talked about a little bit earlier."

The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance off militias, has been fighting since May 31 to retake Minbej.

"So it's a very difficult fight. ISIL is trying to hold onto that area, so we do see them showing up at a variety of different locations," Votel said.

"And so when it's a dynamic situation like that... we have to respond. And I think that's the situation in which we found this particular" operation.

Rights groups say war crimes have been committed by all sides in Syria's conflict, which began in March 2011 and has killed more than 280,000 people.

The government is accused of widespread torture, as well as indiscriminate fire on civilian populations.

And the Islamic State jihadist group has regularly carried out gruesome executions of its opponents.

The United States gathered its allies in the coalition fighting the Islamic State group Wednesday and agreed on a plan to corner the jihadists in their final bastions.

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters that an accelerated military effort would soon see the group pushed back to Raqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.

And US officials said donor countries had pledged a total of $2 billion towards the cost of rebuilding Iraq and insulating its communities from extremism.

But Carter warned that isolating and taking out what he called the IS "parent tumor" would not eliminate its ability to spring or inspire attacks elsewhere.

And, as if on cue, IS propagandists released a video claiming last week's truck attack in Nice that left 84 dead, and threatening more against coalition states.

Defense ministers from the Western and Arab countries of the coalition said they have a military plan to liberate the cities with local Iraqi and Syrian forces.

"Today, we made the plans and commitments that will help us deliver ISIL the lasting defeat that it deserves," Carter told reporters at an air base outside Washington.

The Pentagon chief did not reveal details, but added: "Let me be clear: They culminate in the collapse of ISIL's control over the cities of Mosul and Raqa."

Britain's defense minister, Michael Fallon, said London would double to 500 the number of its troops assigned to train Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting the IS group.

- Parent tumor -

Separately, US Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with foreign ministers from the coalition countries to discuss the broader political and humanitarian plan.

And donor countries were set to pledge what officials hoped would be up to $2 billion to help civilians return to normal life in liberated areas of Iraq.

Baghdad needs the money to rebuild in areas that have been retaken and enable the population to return.

"The fight against Daesh is obviously far from finished, even as we have progress. Mosul is not yet free. Acts of terrorism remain a constant daily danger," Kerry said.

"But the momentum -- there is nobody at this table who would argue that the momentum hasn't shifted -- it has shifted," he said, sitting with allied foreign ministers.

"And Daesh has been driven out of almost half of the territory that once occupied in Iraq," he said, using his preferred term for the Islamic State group.

The two days of meetings were called as jihadist attacks -- some of them inspired or ordered by the IS group -- are proliferating around the world.

The coalition, and in particular its US leadership, are keen to seize back the narrative and emphasize what they see as progress on the main battlefield.

But their task is complicated by the jihadist violence erupting in French seafront resorts, on German passenger trains and in the streets of Turkey and the Middle East.

In recent weeks, jihadists have claimed horrific attacks in Nice, Istanbul, Baghdad and Dhaka that have left hundreds dead and injured.

- Battle for Mosul -

These are "going to be a primary focus, obviously, of the discussions," acknowledged Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama's special envoy to the anti-IS coalition.

For two days, Kerry and Carter will meet with about 40 of their counterparts in Washington.

French defense minister Jean-Yves le Drian told AFP that the battle for Iraq and Mosul is also key for the future security of Europe's cities.

"Daesh is not only a terrorist army that has seized territory," he said, referring to the swath of desert the group has claimed as a "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria.

"It is also from this territory that it has launched both the operations ordered by terrorists that France has suffered (and) also propaganda efforts."

McGurk also warned: "Nobody can say these attacks are going to stop. Unfortunately, I think we are going to see more of these."

The coalition, which has conducted 14,000 strikes in two years, is "succeeding on the ground."

Washington maintains that since its peak in 2014, IS has lost nearly 50 percent of its Iraqi territory and between 20 and 30 percent of its Syrian strongholds.

Iraqi forces that recently retook Fallujah are advancing through the Tigris valley toward Mosul.

They have recaptured the Qayyara air base south of Mosul, which US military officials say will serve as a launch pad for offensive operations against the city.

Washington has also announced that it will send 560 more US troops to Iraq to help the government fight IS and recapture Mosul.

That will bring to 4,600 troops the US military presence in Iraq five years after the United States' 2011 military withdrawal.


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Previous Report
TERROR WARS
US-led coalition resumes strikes against IS from Turkey base
Washington (AFP) July 17, 2016
The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group has resumed air strikes from a Turkish air base that were suspended after a failed military coup d'etat, the Pentagon said on Sunday. "After close coordination with our Turkish allies, they have reopened their airspace to military aircraft," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement. "As a result, counter-ISIL coalition ai ... read more


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