Live Blog: War against Islamic State

Prime Minister David Cameron has voiced his support for air strikes carried out by the United States and Arab allies on Islamic State militants in Syria.

Downing Street said the PM will use talks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York over the next two days - including with the President of Iran - to discuss what contribution the UK and other members of the international community can make to the fight against the terror group.

"The PM will be holding talks at the United Nations in New York over the next two days on what more the UK and others can do to contribute to international efforts to tackle the threat we all face from ISIL."

"The UK is already offering significant military support, including supplying arms to the Kurds as well as surveillance operations by a squadron of Tornadoes and other RAF aircraft."

The Middle East led the agenda Monday afternoon when US President Barack Obama held his annual pre-Rosh Hashanah conference call with close to one thousand rabbis from America’s Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist communities, reported The Times of Israel.

Six weeks before what is expected to be a critical midterm election, domestic policy seemed to pale in comparison to pressing issues in the Middle East, including Iraq, Syria and the Islamic State.

The pre-Rosh Hashanah conference call is seen by administration officials as an opportunity to send critical messages out to rabbis days before they direct sermons to packed synagogues during the High Holy Days.

“I wouldn’t say that it is going to impact the message, but it gives a certain context to it,” Rabbi William Gershon, president of the Rabbinical Assembly said following the call. “It is gratifying to hear the kind of thinking, intellect, and support that the president put forward and that gives me hope.”

Britain’s former Middle East minister, Alistair Burt, has described the co-ordinated air strikes by the US and five Arab allies as a “turning point”. He also backed a recall of Parliament to discuss Britain joining the operation.

Britain’s main political parties are moving towards an agreement to recall parliament on Friday to allow MPs to approve British involvement in air strikes against Islamic State (Isis) forces.

David Cameron – who will attend a meeting of the UN security council in New York chaired by Barack Obama on Wednesday in the wake of US air strikes against Isis forces in Syria – believes it would be politically impossible for him to proceed without the support of Labour.

The opposition Labour leader, Ed Miliband, whose intervention during an emergency recall of parliament last year helped to stop air strikes against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, is expected to have talks with the prime minister later this week.

There is a growing consensus that there would be a legal basis to launch strikes against Isis forces in Iraq, not least if the government in Baghdad requests British involvement. There is less agreement in following the US example in launching strikes against Isis in Syria.

The US-led airstrikes over Syria has so far targeted IS positions and the Khorasan Group in several regions across northern Syria. There have also been reports that Nusra Front positions have been targeted by the campaign.

"There are clearly huge uncertainties, there’s a real risk that initial strikes move to something wider since IS is so embedded," said Julian Barnes-Dacey, fellow in the Middle East and North Africa Programme for ECFR.

"There’s no clear path toward pushing back against IS through an air campaign, you can contain them through air strikes, but with their breadth of territory and the way they are seen by some as the only legitimate opposition to Asad, air strikes can only take you so far," he told MEE.

"There’s no way IS can be defeated quickly, heavy air strikes first aimed at their visible positions, hardware, beyond that they will need a long-time campaign based on local alliances, that may mean some kind of alliance with Asad," added Barnes-Dacey.

US airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Syria violate Syria's sovereignty and are destabilizing to the region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Attempts to pursue own geopolitical goals through violating the sovereignty of other states only escalates tensions and aggravates the situation even further," the statement reads. "Moscow has repeatedly warned that those who initiated one-sided military scenarios bear full international legal responsibility for the consequences."

The ministry said in a statement that military actions on the sovereign state's territory should be authorized either by the Syrian government or the UN Security Council.

US forces staging the first strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria also targeted a separate extremist group plotting an imminent attack against US and Western forces, the Pentagon said.

In the air strikes against IS militants, the US was aided by Arab allies Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, it said.

Eight US air strikes were also aimed at the hardline Khorasan Group which is made up of former Al-Qaeda operatives, the Pentagon said in a statement.

"The United States has also taken action to disrupt the imminent attack plotting against the United States and Western interests conducted by a network of seasoned Al-Qaeda veterans -- sometimes referred to as the Khorasan Group -- who have established a safe haven in Syria to develop external attacks, construct and test improvised explosive devices and recruit Westerners to conduct operations," the statement said.

"All aircraft safely exited the strike areas," it added.

Turkey has been the target of "baseless" accusations regarding the militant group IS, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking to the Council of Foreign Relations, a US think tank,  Monday in New York. 

Erdogan emphasised that Turkey is a country that has fought terrorism on its own for long time and has paid a heavy cost and that "any support from Turkey to a terrorist organization is out of question."

Fifteen members of the Nusra Front as well as civilians were killed by the US-led airstrikes over IS positions in Aleppo and Idlib, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Security has been stepped up in the capital Damascus out of concern that IS might be plotting revenge attacks.

MEE chief reporter Jonathan Steele in Damascus said: “Special police have cordoned off the parliament building and blocked off access to cars and are also checking all the pedestrians as an obvious precaution.”

“But people are still on the streets,” he added.  

Syria's opposition National Coalition welcomed US-led air strikes against the Islamic State group, but urged sustained pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's government.

"Tonight, the international community has joined our fight against ISIS in Syria," Coalition president Hadi al-Bahra said, using an alternative acronym for the jihadist group.

"We have called for air strikes such as those that commenced tonight with a heavy heart and deep concern... We insist that utmost care is taken to avoid civilian casualties," he added.

The comments came after a US-led coalition assembled to battle the IS group began air strikes against the jihadist group in eastern and northern Syria on Tuesday morning.

The opposition Coalition has backed strikes against IS, but also urged continued attention to the Assad regime.

"We are calling on all our partners to maintain pressure on the Assad regime," Bahra said.

"This war cannot be won by military means alone," he added.

"It requires a comprehensive strategy with political, economic and social components –- a process that may be supported by the international community, but must be led and implemented by Syrians."