Event Summary:
- August 3rd, 2015; Pentagon through its spokesman, Capt. Jeff Davis, announced the first armed drone missions from Turkish Incirlik Air Base in the past weekend.
- The unmanned aerial vehicles have been flying from the base though they have been unarmed.
- Plans to conduct manned airstrikes from the base in Turkey to different positions of Islamic State and al-Nusra front in Syria are underway
Analysis:
The United States and Turkey last month came to an agreement that would allow the US use Turkish Airbases to conduct airstrikes on the Islamic State Takfiri especially in Syria.
The aerial vehicles would use major air bases including Incirlik Air Base to launch attacks against the Takfiri militants in Syria.
The new launch plans are preceded by the US attacks on non-Islamic State forces for the first time since the US-led coalition against IS became operational.
The Friday, July 31st 2015 attacks by the US were on forces that attacked the US-trained Syrian Rebels now as the New Syrian Forces. The forces were trained by the US to be the grounds-men in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
Capt. Davis said that the attackers that attacked the Syrian Rebel s looked for like the Al-Nusra Front which is the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. In his statement he said that there was no war with Syrian President Bashar Al- Assad regime as he made it clear that the attackers of the friendly forces were not associated with the Syrian government.
Forecast:
Despite Washington assuring of the absent of bad blood between the current Syrian regime and them they sharply maintained that it doesn’t translate to be allies in the fight against Islamic State.
A meeting held in Qatar attended by Russian and Saudi Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Adel al-Jubeir and US Secretary of State John Kerry raised the issue of President’s Assad’s brutality as the cause of the sustainability of the IS from foreign fighter.
Concerns have emerged of the complications brought about by the US-led coalition continued attacks against the Syrian government forces. The attacks are viewed as a huge impediment to the fight against terrorist groups in Syria.
The US-led coalition in the future will receive backing from unexpected allies to fight the Islamic State in the region. Turkey has exhibited tolerance towards Islamic State. Turkey’s cooperation in the fight against IS has been viewed as a bold step towards the defeat of IS.
