News Desk :Around 140,000 Syrian Kurds have already fled into Turkey since last week- the fastest exodus of the entire three-year civil war-as the Islamic State fighters responded to US air attacks by intensifying their assaults near the Turkish border.The air strikes by the United States and its allies targeted Islamic State-controlled oil refineries in three remote locations in eastern Syria to cut off a major source of revenue for the al Qaeda offshoot. The raids also seem to be intended to hamper Islamic State’s ability to operate across the Syria-Iraq frontier, an area where it has declared an Islamic Caliphate.In addition to scores of Islamic State fighters, the air strikes also killed many civilians, in the opening 24 hours of the air strikes by Washington and its allies, the first direct US foray into Syria two weeks after President Barack Obama pledged to hit the group on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border.Islamic State sources said that they have already taken several villages to the west of Kobani, a Kurdish city on the border with Turkey. In fear of heavy casualties following fighting between the IS militants and the joint attacks by the US and its allies, the inhabitants of the area have started crossing the other side of the border to Turkey. Reuters adds: Ocalan Iso, deputy leader of Kurdish forces defending Kobani a city on Turkish border said Islamic State forces and tanks had arrived in the area since the US-led coalition began air strikes on the group in Syria.The Islamic fighters have accelerated their campaign to capture Kobani. Nearly 140,000 Syrian Kurds have already fled into Turkey since last week, the fastest exodus of the entire three-year civil war. Islamic State’s ability to move fighters and weapons between Syria and Iraq has provided an important tactical advantage for the group in both countries: fighters sweeping in from Syria helped capture much of northern Iraq in June, and weapons they seized and sent back to Syria helped them in battle there.US officials say they informed both Assad and his main ally Iran in advance of their intention to strike but did not coordinate with them. Jordan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have joined in the strikes. All are ruled by Sunni Muslims and are staunch opponents of Assad, a member of a Shi’ite-derived sect, and his main regional ally, Shi’ite Iran. But some of Assad’s opponents fear the Syrian leader could exploit the US military campaign to rehabilitate himself in the eyes of Western countries, and that strikes against Islamic State could solidify his grip on power.The campaign has blurred the traditional lines of Middle East alliances, pitting a US coalition comprising countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against fighters that form the most powerful opposition to Assad on the ground.The attacks have so far encountered no objection, and even signs of approval, from Assad’s Syrian government. Syrian state TV led its news broadcast with Wednesday’s air strikes on the border with Iraq, saying “the USA and its partners” had launched raids against “the terrorist organisation Islamic State.”US and coalition planes pounded Islamic State positions in Syria again on Wednesday, but the strikes did not halt the fighters’ advance in a Kurdish area where fleeing refugees told of villages burnt and captives beheaded.US President Barack Obama, speaking at the United Nations, asked the world to join together to fight the militants and vowed to keep up military pressure against them.”The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force, so the United States of America will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death,” Obama said in 40-minute speech to the UN General Assembly.British Prime Minister David Cameron said he wanted Britain to join US-led air strikes against the Islamic State militant group after the Iraqi government requested London’s help. He recalled parliament to secure its approval for military action.Cameron said in an address at the United Nations that a comprehensive strategy was needed to combat Islamic State.”Our strategy must work in tandem with Arab states, always in support of local people, in line with our legal obligations and as part of a plan that involves our aid, our diplomacy and, yes, our military,” Cameron said. “We need to act and we need to act now.” A third night of US-led air strikes late on Wednesday targeted Islamic State-controlled oil refineries in eastern Syria as the United States and its partners moved to choke off a crucial source of revenue for the militant group, US officials said.Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined in the strikes by piloted and drone aircraft targeting facilities around al Mayadin, al Hasakah, and Abu Kamal, the US military said.The military said the targeted refineries, which are prefabricated and constructed off-site so they can be transported and made operational quickly, were capable of producing millions in revenue and provided fuel for Islamic State operations.The United States on Wednesday also designated two dozen individuals and groups as foreign terrorists or terrorist facilitators, enabling it to freeze assets and block financial transactions as part of its offensive against Islamic State.”The situation is very bad. After they kill people, they are burning the villages. … When they capture any village, they behead one person to make everyone else afraid,” he said. “They are trying to eradicate our culture, purge our nation.”Islamist militants in Algeria boasted in a video they had beheaded a French hostage captured on Sunday to punish Paris for joining air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq. French President Francois Hollande confirmed the execution.”My determination is total and this aggression only strengthens it,” Hollande said. “The military air strikes will continue as long as necessary.” The United States said it was still assessing whether Mohsin al-Fadhli, a senior figure in the al Qaeda-linked group Khorasan, had been killed in a US strike in Syria.French fighter jets struck targets in Iraq on Thursday and the United States and its allies stepped up air raids in Syria against Islamic State militants who have taken over large areas of both countries. France’s strikes were its first since Sept. 19 when Paris joined the United States military action against Islamic State in Iraq and followed the beheading of a French tourist, reported late on Wednesday, in Algeria in retaliation.Overnight, US-led air strikes in eastern Syria killed 14 Islamic State fighters, according to a monitoring group, while on the ground, Kurdish forces were reported to have pushed back an advance by the Islamists towards the border town of Kobani.
