The United States and its "partners" early Tuesday launched bombing raids against Islamic State militants in Syria, where tens of thousands of people have fled to neighbouring Turkey as the jihadists advanced on a key border town.
US media reported five Arab states took part in the air raids as part of a new international coalition formed to attack the Islamic State group, which has seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq and committed atrocities including beheadings and crucifixions.
The US-led air assault in Syria marked a turning point in the war against the IS group, and came despite a threat by an IS-linked Algerian group to kill a French hostage if Paris failed to halt its aerial campaign against the IS in Iraq.
A Pentagon spokesman said the US military and unnamed "partner nation forces" have unleashed air strikes against the jihadists using fighters, bombers and Tomahawk missiles.
Earlier, Algerian group Jund al-Khilifa (Soldiers of the Caliphate) posted a video showing the white-haired and bespectacled French hostage, Herve Pierre Gourdel, squatting on the ground flanked by two hooded men clutching Kalashnikov assault rifles.
The footage was confirmed as authentic by the French government, and came after IS issued a statement urging Muslims to kill Westerners whose nations have joined a campaign to battle the jihadist group.
The United States has built a broad coalition of more than 50 nations to fight the IS jihadists, who have in recent days advanced towards a key border town in northern Syria, sending 130,000 terrified residents fleeing to Turkey.
'No safe haven'
The strikes -- including Tomahawk missiles fired from naval warships at sea-- came less than two weeks after US President Barack Obama warned that he had approved an expansion of the campaign against the IS group to include action in Syria.
"I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are," Obama said on September 10 in a speech to the nation.
"This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven."
ABC News, citing a diplomatic source, named the partners in the Syria air raids as Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Washington began air strikes against IS targets in Iraq on August 8, with about 190 raids carried out against the extremists there.
Other Western powers have also vowed action against the jihadists, angered in particular by atrocities carried out by the militants, including brutal executions of British aid worker David Haines as well as US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
In a drive to enlist more partners to destroy the IS group, British Prime Minister David Cameron will hold face-to-face talks with Iran's President Hasan Rouhani -- the first such high-level meeting between the two countries since 1979.
Call to kill 'disbelieving'
In a statement posted online, IS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani said Muslims should seek out and kill Westerners whose countries have joined the coalition, in particular Americans and the French.
"If you can kill a disbelieving American or European... including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him," he said.
France sought to reassure its citizens with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve saying: "France is not afraid... France is prepared to respond to their threat."
Jund al-Khilifa, which has pledged allegiance to IS, raised the pressure on Paris with a threat to kill hostage Gourdel within a day.
The group said it had snatched the man in a mountainous region of eastern Algeria where Al-Qaeda is active and that it was responding to the IS call to target citizens of the coalition.
"The threats made by this group are extremely grave and demonstrate the extreme cruelty of (the IS group) and all those associated with it," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
On Monday, Australia said it was deploying warplanes to join the aerial campaign in northern Iraq.
The announcement comes after Australian police last week foiled an alleged plot by IS jihadists to conduct "demonstration killings" in the country, including randomly beheading members of the public.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Canberra was treating the call as a genuine threat and stressed her country's committing to "containing and degrading and destroying" the jihadist group.
Canada, another member of the coalition, said it was looking to scale up its fight against terrorism.
Bernama
Tue Sep 23 2014
An image grab taken from a video released by Jund al-Khilifa group via YouTube on Sept 22 allegedly shows French tourist, Herve Pierre Gourdel sitting between two armed jihadists at an undisclosed location. - AFP Photo/HO/Junda al-Khilifa via YouTube
Warga Thailand mengaku tidak bersalah seleweng diesel
Seorang warga Thailand mengaku tidak bersalah di Mahkamah Sesyen Alor Setar atas pertuduhan menyeleweng 322 liter minyak diesel.
Lilitan reben putih tak langgar peraturan - Timbalan Speaker
Ramli berkata, perkara itu juga adalah merupakan keputusannya dan bukan dibuat oleh Yang Dipertua Dewan Rakyat, Tan Sri Johari Abdul.
Kos pampasan tanah fasa 1B proses projek LPB Sabah RM1.2 bilion - Alexander
Anggaran kos pengambilan balik tanah bagi keseluruhan Fasa 1B proses pengambilan tanah dan penilaian pampasan tanah bagi Projek Lebuh Raya Pan Borneo Sabah (LPB Sabah) berjumlah RM1.2 bilion.
KR sedia tambah baik SOP pembinaan lebuhraya
Alaxender berkata kementerian bersedia untuk mendedahkan laporan kajian insiden jika ia melibatkan kemalangan berskala besar dan meragut nyawa.
Reman suspek kes keropok beracun disambung dua hari
Tempoh reman terhadap seorang pemilik kebun disambung selama dua hari, bagi membantu siasatan kematian dua kanak-kanak yang meninggal dunia akibat makan keropok beracun.
KPM alukan pesara guru ajar Bahasa Inggeris
Jelas Fadhlina Sidek pesara-pesara guru telah banyak membantu usaha KPM dalam meningkatkan PdP bahasa Inggeris termasuk melalui Program Highly Immersive Programme Mentor (HIP Mentor).
Tidak perlu lagi kemas kini status COVID-19 dalam MySejahtera - KKM
Jika positif COVID-19 melalui ujian kendiri, pesakit boleh mengunjungi klinik dan hospital berdekatan bagi mendapatkan pengesahan.
Mayat hampir reput dijumpai di rumah usang
Mayat hampir reput ditemui di sebuah rumah usang di Kesang Laut, berdekatan pusat timbang Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) pada Ahad.
Wanita dakwa dituduh Rafizi fail saman
Seorang wanita memfailkan saman terhadap Menteri Ekonomi, Rafizi Ramli bagi menuntut permohonan maaf secara terbuka berhubung dakwaan bahawa wanita berkenaan ialah isteri kepada bekas menteri yang dikaitkan dengan isu kapal tempur pesisir (LCS).
Bagaimanapun, Rafizi bergantung kepada pembelaan justifikasi berkata bersedia membuktikan kenyataan di mahkamah termasuk perlindungan bersyarat dan ulasan yang saksama terhadap saman fitnah yang difailkan oleh Zainab Mohd Salleh.
Bagaimanapun, Rafizi bergantung kepada pembelaan justifikasi berkata bersedia membuktikan kenyataan di mahkamah termasuk perlindungan bersyarat dan ulasan yang saksama terhadap saman fitnah yang difailkan oleh Zainab Mohd Salleh.
Ahli Parlimen PN pakai reben putih di lengan tak langgar peraturan - Timbalan Speaker
Jelas Timbalan Yang Dipertua Dewan Rakyat itu, pendirian tersebut adalah keputusannya dan ia tidak dibuat oleh Yang Dipertua Dewan Rakyat, Tan Sri Johari Abdul.