US, ‘partners’ launch air strikes on IS militants in Syria

WASHINGTON: The United States and its "partners" early Tuesday launched bombing raids against Islamic State militants in Syria, where tens of thousands of people have fled to neighbouring Turkey as the jihadists advanced on a key border town.

US media reported five Arab states took part in the air raids as part of a new international coalition formed to attack the Islamic State group, which has seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq and committed atrocities including beheadings and crucifixions.

The US-led air assault in Syria marked a turning point in the war against the IS group, and came despite a threat by an IS-linked Algerian group to kill a French hostage if Paris failed to halt its aerial campaign against the IS in Iraq.

A Pentagon spokesman said the US military and unnamed "partner nation forces" have unleashed air strikes against the jihadists using fighters, bombers and Tomahawk missiles.

Earlier, Algerian group Jund al-Khilifa (Soldiers of the Caliphate) posted a video showing the white-haired and bespectacled French hostage, Herve Pierre Gourdel, squatting on the ground flanked by two hooded men clutching Kalashnikov assault rifles.

The footage was confirmed as authentic by the French government, and came after IS issued a statement urging Muslims to kill Westerners whose nations have joined a campaign to battle the jihadist group.

The United States has built a broad coalition of more than 50 nations to fight the IS jihadists, who have in recent days advanced towards a key border town in northern Syria, sending 130,000 terrified residents fleeing to Turkey. (AFP)