Jordan warplanes strike IS targets in southern Syria

Jordanian warplanes attacked Islamic State targets in southern Syria on Friday, killing an unspecified number of the jihadist group’s members and destroying several vehicles, the kingdom’s official Petra news agency said Saturday.

Quoting the Jordanian army, the agency said the strikes included the use of “drones and precision-guided munitions.” Among the targets were an arms depot, a facility in which car bombs were produced and barracks used by the group to house its fighters.

According to the army, the strikes were part of “the Kingdom’s efforts to eradicate this terrorist organization.” The report did not offer any further details.

The assault comes days after King Abdullah, a close US ally, held meetings in Washington with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Vice President Mike Pence. He also met with President Donald Trump on Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast.

The jihadist group in December claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting attack in Jordan that killed 10 people, including a Canadian tourist. The shootings took place in Karak, a tourist destination known for one of the biggest Crusader castles in the region, around 120 kilometers (70 miles) south of the capital Amman.

King Abdullah II pledged to step up the fight against IS in 2015, after the militants burned a captive Jordanian pilot in a cage and released a video of the killing. The images sent waves of revulsion across the region.

Also Saturday, US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters announced a new phase in their campaign for IS’s Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, but said they needed more weapons to win.

The Syrian Democratic Forces launched their campaign to capture the city last November and have taken some ground further up the Euphrates Valley but are still some distance away.

The SDF “announce the beginning of the third phase to liberate Raqqa and its surroundings, which will target the eastern part of the province,” spokeswoman Jihan Sheikh Ahmed said.

Speaking in the village of Aaliyah, north of the city, Ahmed said 750 more Arab fighters had joined the SDF after being trained by the US-led coalition.

The coalition has carried out air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq since 2014.

Washington has dispatched about 500 troops — including bomb disposal experts, trainers and special operations troops — to support the SDF’s campaign.

AFP contributed to this report