This is only the beginning':
Pentagon reveal how dozens of smart bombs have blitzed ISIS in Syria and tell
terror group more missiles are on their way
·
Fanatics' de facto capital Raqqa
hit by wave after wave of missiles and bombs during the first U.S. airstrikes
in Syria
·
Group of fighter jets from the
Royal Bahrain Air Force also took part in coordinated attacks
on Islamic State targets
·
20 militants reported dead already,
with images released by U.S. military showing huge damage to ISIS-held
locations
·
Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan also
'participated' in the strikes - though
their exact involvement is not yet known
·
Strikes saw first combat for $139
million F-22 fighter jets - with Tomahawk missiles also launched from
Naval vessels
·
U.S. also carried out separate
strikes on Al Qaeda group Khorasan - who were planning 'imminent
attack' on the West
·
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
was warned in advance about strikes, but is not thought to have had any
input
The U.S. and Arab strikes on militant targets in Syria overnight
were 'only the beginning' of a 'credible and sustainable, persistent' coalition
effort to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS militants and other extremist
groups, the American military has said.
The airstrikes - which employed
U.S. Tomahawk missiles, B1 bombers, F16, F18 and F22 strike fighters and drones
- was backed by support from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the UAE -
a coalition of nations that has agreed to assist with the destruction of ISIS.
There was also a separate U.S.
attack on a different band of Islamist militants in Syria - the mysterious Al
Qaeda-affiliated Khorasan Group, who are said to have been planning an
'imminent attack' on a Western target.
'I can tell you that last night's
strikes were only the beginning,' Rear Admiral John Kirby, a Pentagon
spokesman, told reporters. He said the strikes had been 'very successful' and
would continue, without going into further detail on future operational plans.
Another military spokesman,
Lieutenant General William Mayville Jr., said that Arab nations - including
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - took part in the
second and third waves of attacks. He said the Arab countries' actions ranged
from combat air patrols to strikes on targets.
Earlier U.S. President Barack
Obama said the participation of the five Arab nations 'makes it clear to the
world this is not America's fight alone.'
Scroll down for videos
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Pinpoint: An ISIS vehicle storage
area near Abu Kamel in Syria is destroyed by satellite guided munitions in the
this video released by the Pentagon
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Reduced to rubble: The remains of
the vehicle storage area are scene in this image after the smoke has
cleared
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Levelled: A storage facility near
Abu Kamel in Syria was also destroyed in the first round of U.S. strikes
