Al-Qaeda-linked group calls US-led air strikes ‘a war against Islam’
Islamist group al-Nusra denounces US-led air strikes and calls on jihadists to target the countries involved.
Syrian Islamist group al-Nusra Front described the US-led air strikes on Islamic State targets as ‘a war against Islam’. In an online statement, they called on jihadists around the world to target the countries involved in airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria.
The US, backed by 40 countries including Arab states, attacked IS targets in Syria for the first time on Tuesday after hitting several IS targets in neighbouring Iraq. The Pentagon said that airstrikes on Saturday hit the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa as well as targets close to Syria’s border with Turkey.
On Saturday, al-Nusra spokesman Abu Firas al-Suri denounced the attacks.
“These states have committed a horrible act that is going to put them on the list of jihadist targets throughout the world,” he said. “This is not a war against al-Nusra but a war against Islam.”
The Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front are both rebel groups in Syria who are fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Despite both being radical Islamist groups, IS and al-Nusra have clashed in the past.
The US has not confirmed that it is attacking al-Nusra but its planes have attacked a new group called Khorasan, which is rumoured of having strong links with al-Nusra.
Meanwhile, Islamic State fighters advanced into the Kurdish-dominated Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, close to Syria’s border with Turkey. Over 15,000 residents have fled the town as IS fighters clashed with Kurdish armed groups on Saturday.
Four mortar shells from the conflict in Syria landed in Turkey, Turkish officials said.
Earlier on Saturday, US-led coalition warplanes hit IS targets near Ain Al-Arab and other targets which included wheat silos in eastern Syria.
Fighting in the district has been raging on for two weeks as the Islamic State captured several villages around Ain al-Arab and tried to advance into the border town itself.
The US, backed by 40 countries including Arab states attacked IS targets in Syria for the first time on Tuesday after hitting several IS targets in neighbouring Iraq.
The group has declared an Islamic ‘caliphate’ spanning across swathes of Syria and Iraq. Their violent tactics of beheadings, crucifixions, and of religious and ethnic minorities eventually triggered an international response.
