THE US has carried out dozens of airstrikes across central Syria on terrorist ISIS targets, as Assad is overthrown by rebels.
More than 75 “precision airstrikes” were carried out on Sunday as fears over a power vacuum forming in the wartorn country grow.
GettyThe US has carried out over 75 air strikes in central Syria[/caption]
GettySyria’s President Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebels on Sunday[/caption]
The Mega AgencyJoe Biden confirmed the US would continue it’s presence in Syria[/caption]
President Joe Biden warned the toppling of Assad’s regime was a “moment of risk and uncertainty” for the Middle East.
Biden warned that ISIS would exploit the regime change in Syria and attempt to reestablish itself.
He said: “We will not let that happen.”
He confirmed that the US would continue it’s involvement in the region to establish a transition “toward independent, sovereign and independent.”
The US has around 900 troops in Syria, including forces working with Kurdish allies in the northeast, to prevent the resurgence of the terrorist Islamist group there.
Biden confirmed these troops would remain in the country as the country conducted dozens of strikes in Syria.
A US government official, Daniel Shapiro, also confirmed that the US would focus on rooting out the terrorist groups activity in Syria.
He said: “We are aware that the chaotic and dynamic circumstances on the ground in Syria could give ISIS space to find the ability to become active, to plan external operations.”
He added: “We’re determined to work with those partners to continue to degrade their capabilities.”
The US Central Command said it was assessing damages and said there were no indications of civilian casualties.
CENTCOM added: “The operation struck over 75 targets using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s.”
ISIS had created a caliphate across large parts of Syria after the civil war broke out 13 years ago, and at one point controlled a third of the country.
It has since lost a majority of its land and control in the area.
Assad was ousted today after rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group the US had labelled a terrorist organisation, managed to overthrow the government in just 10 days.
Biden issued a stark warning against HTS, who has said it broke ties with al-Qaida a long time ago.
The US President said: “We will remain vigilant,
“Make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses.”
The US has not been the only country to fire missiles into Syria as Israel launched rockets into Damascus on Sunday.
Security sources told Reuters that three Israeli airstrikes hit a Syrian government chemical weapon site in Damascus, said to have been used by Iran to develop missiles in the past.
One source said these strikes damaged infrastructure used to store military data, equipment, and guided missile parts.
Israel occupies a buffer zone in the Golan Heights, which was captured from Syria in 1967.
It comes after the IDF was deployed in the Golan buffer zone in preparation for chaos following the toppling of Assad, on Saturday night.
Israel confirmed that it also hit at least seven targets in southwest Syria on Sunday.
This included the Khalkhala air base where Israel claimed Assad’s troops abandoned missiles, air defence batteries, and munition.
The IDF’s chief of staff said it was now “fighting on four fronts,” which he said were Syria, Gaza, Lebanon, and Judea.
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