Obama vows more air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria

By Roberta Rampton and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday vowed more air strikes against extremists in Syria after U.S. forces carried out separate raids on Islamic State militants and an al Qaeda affiliate that Washington said was poised to attack America or Europe. Three waves of air strikes hit Islamic State training camps, headquarters, leadership, command and control sites, logistical nodes and armored vehicles overnight, some in coordination with five Arab nations, U.S. military officials said. The White House said U.S. forces acting alone carried out separate strikes against the Khorasan group, an al Qaeda affiliate in northeastern Syria, to disrupt planning for what it described as imminent attacks on the West. "We will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people," Obama said as he left Washington for the United Nations in New York, where he will meet officials from the five Arab countries. Obama said the strength of the coalition, now more than 40 countries, showed the fight against militants is not America's alone. The overnight strikes in Syria were part of a coalition effort to weaken Islamic State, an extremist group that has killed thousands and beheaded at least three westerners while seizing control of parts of Syria and northwestern Iraq. "I can tell you that last night's strikes were only the beginning," Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters. He said the strikes had been 'very successful' and would continue. Lieutenant General William Mayville Jr., the director of operations on the U.S. military's joint staff, said the air strikes were coordinated out of the Combined Air Operations Center in Qatar. Mayville said the radar linked to Syria's sophisticated integrated air defenses remained "passive" during the strikes, but he declined to say whether the radar and air defenses had been turned off. Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, told reporters that "for some time" Washington had been tracking plots by Khorasan. "We believe that attack plotting was imminent," Rhodes said, "and that they had plans to conduct attacks external to Syria." SYRIA TOLD AIR STRIKES IMMINENT The U.S. military said it did not coordinate the air strikes with the government of Syria, but Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said he had been told by U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power that U.S. and Arab strikes against Islamic State were imminent. The first wave of attacks consisted of more than 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired by U.S. warships in the Red Sea and northern Gulf, most of them targeting the Khorasan group, Mayville said. He said it was too soon to evaluate their impact. The Syrian Observatory monitoring group said some 50 fighters were killed in the U.S. strikes on the Khorasan group. Militants on social media were mourning the death of two senior leaders: Mohsin al-Fadhli, a former associate of al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and reputed leader of the Khorasan group, and Abu Yusif al-Turki, a leading trainer and sniper. U.S. officials have not confirmed al-Fadhli's death. Mayville said the United States did not target individual leaders but had hit command-and-control sites where leaders often go. The second wave of strikes included F-22 Raptors, F-15 Strike Eagles, F-16 fighters, B-1 bombers and drones mainly targeting Islamic State militants in northern Syria and flying from a regional base. It was the first time the radar-evading F-22, the most advanced U.S. fighter, had been used in combat. The third wave of strikes also targeted Islamic State and included F-18s flying from the USS George H.W. Bush in the Gulf as well as F-16s and other aircraft, Mayville said. 'PERSISTENT' CAMPAIGN Mayville said planes from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates participated in the second and third waves, with some carrying out air strikes and others participating in combat air patrols. Qatari aircraft provided defensive support but did not drop bombs, a U.S. official said. Mayville said the strikes were the start "of a credible and sustainable persistent campaign" to destroy Islamic State but he acknowledged it was an effort that could take years. Islamic State is "a learning organization and they will adapt to ... what we've done and seek to address their shortfalls and gaps against our air campaign in the coming weeks," he said. At the U.N. General Assembly meeting, Obama hopes to build further support for the coalition. He planned to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other friends and allies. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told a counter-terrorism event in New York that air strikes alone would not stop the militants and he asked other countries to help halt the flow of money and foreign fighters to the region. Kerry announced an initial $40 million to develop global practices to stop the flow of foreign fighters to Syria. (Additional reporting by Missy Ryan, Lesley Wroughton; Writing by David Alexander; Editing by Grant McCool)