Increase in attacks comes after a ‘lull’ in recent weeks, says U.S. Air Force official
A fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces monitors the countryside in Syria’s Hasakah province on Nov, 5, 2015. The U.S. says it will boost the pace of its airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq in coming weeks.
DUBAI—The pace of U.S. airstrikes targeting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq is set to increase after a period of several weeks in which attacks slowed, said a senior U.S. military official in the Middle East.
The increase in raids on Islamic State fighters should unfold over the next few weeks, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Brown Jr. told reporters on the sidelines of the biannual Dubai International Air Chiefs Conference on Saturday.
“There was a little bit of a lull,” after a busy July and August, he said. Poor weather and a lack of movement of Islamic State forces on the ground hampered the ability to find and attack targets, he said.
“We are starting to see movement now,” Lt. Gen. Brown said.
The slowdown of U.S. airstrikes coincided with Russia’s deployment of combat jets to Syria and the launching of its own airstrikes. But Lt. Gen Brown said that had “nothing to do” with the U.S. efforts.
The U.S. and Russia last month signed an agreement to minimize the risk of a midair accident between the two air forces as both fight in Syria. The document includes specific safety protocols for aircrews to follow.
However, Lt. Gen. Brown said the two aren’t coordinating their strikes to avoid flying in the same airspace at the same time. “We are going to fly where we need to fly to get the job done,” he said.
Some partners in the U.S. coalition that is striking Islamic State targets have been in talks with the Russians, Lt. Gen. Brown said, without identifying them. “I’m personally not concerned about it,” he added.
In addition to conducting combat and intelligence-gathering missions in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. is also supporting the Saudi Arabia-led coalition undertaking airstrikes in Yemen, providing intelligence and tanker support, Lt. Gen. Brown said.
The Saudi-led coalition in September increased the pace of attacks on Iranian-supported Houthi rebels in Yemen’s central province of Marib after 67 coalition soldiers died in a Sept. 4 Houthi missile attack.
The commander of the United Arab Emirates air force, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Naser Al Alawi,said at the event here that his units have flown 40,000 flight hours in Yemen operations alone. The U.A.E. has based planes at six foreign bases in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, he said.
U.A.E. service officials were reluctant to discuss details of the operation, though Lt. Gen. Brown said “it seems like they are doing well.”
The Saudi-led coalition is fighting to restore Yemen’s exiled president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to power. The battle has become seen in the region as a proxy war between Riyadh and its Sunni Muslim regional allies on the one side, and mainly Shiite Iran on the other.
Lt. Gen. Brown also said he doesn’t expect a nuclear deal with Iran to alter efforts among Arab countries in the Persian Gulf to bolster their missile defenses. The U.A.E. and Qatar are among countries adding additional missile-defense equipment in the face of a growing ballistic-missile arsenal.
“We have to be prepared for if the agreement falls apart,” Lt. Gen. Brown said.
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
Lt. Gen. Brown said the U.S. and Russia aren’t coordinating their strikes to avoid flying in the same airspace at the same time. An earlier version of this article incorrectly quoted him as saying the two countries were coordinating their strikes. (Nov. 8, 2015)
No comments:
Post a Comment