Barack Obama calls David Cameron to discuss United Kingdom air strike against ISIS

The White House said President Obama expressed his appreciation that British air forces had joined USA forces in striking IS in Syria as well as in Iraq.

Kerry met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of the OSCE meeting, with Washington and Moscow at odds over the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad more than four years into a war that has killed over 250,000 people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his state-of-the-nation address, accused Turkey of “a treacherous war crime” and bitingly suggested “Allah must have punished Turkey’s ruling clique by depriving it of sense and reason”.

“To stop the advance on Irbil, I’ve directed our military to take targeted strikes against ISIL terrorist convoys should they move toward the city”. Have your say over at Grazia’s Facebook page, or tweet us @GraziaUK.

Although several of the oil fields already have been hit by the U.S.-led coalition, the United Kingdom chose a target with low risk of collateral damage for its first strike in Syria.

“We are going to do our very best to minimise civilian casualties”.

‘I’m not a pacifist, I’m not someone who’s finding excuses for voting against it in principle … but the problem for me is that nobody can say who these 70,000 moderate allies are in Syria [David Cameron has quoted the Joint Intelligence Committee’s assertion that there are 70,000 Muslim fighters in Syria who are not affiliated to extremist groups]. “Who are you going to replace ISIS with?'” he asks.

The jets, alongside Tornados, struck the IS-controlled Omar oilfield in eastern Syria on Friday night in an effort to cut off the militant group’s financial supply.

“They’ve been making a lot of money out of oil… and their revenue helps to finance their terrorism in Western Europe and is a threat to us in Britain”.

Islamic State, also known as Isis, seized the oil fields, Syria’s largest, during its surge into Iraq last summer.

The mission will include sending six Tornado reconnaissance jets, a frigate to help protect the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, refuelling aircraft and up to 1,200 military personnel.

The UK’s entry into the fight against ISIS comes closely on the heels of U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s announcement that an expeditionary task force of American commandos would soon be deployed to northern Iraq to begin ground operations against the Islamic State on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border.

The update reinforced the belief that one of the problems in conducting airstrikes against Isis in Syria is the lack of immediate targets.

Britain has dispatched two additional Tornados and six Typhoons to the region to take part in attacks.

France’s government welcomed the first British airstrikes in Syria, saying they are a sign of the European solidarity promised after the November 13 attacks on Paris.

“Since November previous year our security services have foiled no fewer that seven different plots against our people”, Cameron said.