WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says the airstrikes launched by the U.S. and Arab allies in Syria took out key training camps and facilities of the Islamic State militant group.
But an official says it’s too soon to tell if other strikes carried out by the United States on its own were able to disrupt a terrorist attack being planned by al-Qaida militants, known as the Khorasan Group. Lt. Gen. William Mayville says the group was “nearing the execution phase” of an attack against Europe or the U.S.
Mayville, who is director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the U.S. carried out the vast majority of the strikes against the Islamic State group. And he said the strikes would continue, probably for years. He wouldn’t provide details on the role played by five Arab nations.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the top U.S. military officer, says the operation showed the extremists that their attacks won’t go unanswered. And President Barack Obama says the Arab support for the airstrikes shows the world that “this is not America’s fight alone.”
Activists in Syria say the U.S. and Arab strikes hit targets in and around the city of Raqqa, which is the Islamic State’s self-declared capital in Syria.
