U.S. Launches Manned Airstrikes Against ISIS from Turkey

The U.S. has carried out its first manned airstrikes on the Islamic State in Syria, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday. The strikes were launched from an airbase in Turkey as part of an agreement reached between the two countries last month, CNN reports.

Turkey and the U.S. have plans to create a buffer zone in northern Syria, from which they intend to remove ISIS. While Jabhat al-Nusra – the Syrian arm of al-Qaida – has denounced the buffer zone and begun to pull its fighters out of the area, another Islamist group, Ahrar al-Sham, has come out in support of it.

Last week, the U.S. launched its first drone strike in Syria, also from Turkish territory.

Civilians Dead, Including Five Children, in U.S. Airstrike on Rebel Arms Depot

An estimated 18 people, including at least 5 children, were killed in Atmeh on Wednesday by a U.S. airstrike on an arms depot belonging to Jaish al-Sunna, an Islamist rebel group allied with Jabhat al-Nusra.

Eight of those killed “were civilians, including five children and two women,” said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as reported by Middle East Eye.

“We are aware of the reports surrounding Atmeh and are looking into them. We take all reports of non-combatant casualties seriously and look into each one received or reported,” the Pentagon told the Daily Beast.

Iranian Foreign Minister Visits Damascus to Discuss Civil War

The Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Damascus on Wednesday, where he met with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to discuss the ongoing civil war. Zarif called on regional actors to “fight terrorism and extremism,” Agence France-Presse reports.

“I say to the other (regional) players and to our neighbors that now is the time to care about the truth, answer the aspirations of the Syrian people and work to fight terrorism, extremism and sectarianism,” Zarif added.

Iran has been a bulwark of support for the Syrian president throughout the last four years of civil war, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 240,000 people. Iran’s Lebanese ally, the political party and militia Hezbollah, has been fighting alongside Syrian government forces, as well.

Earlier this week it was reported that a new Iranian peace plan would make the Syrian city of Aleppo – now divided between government and rebel control – into an international city.

Recommended Reads:

• Daily Beast: Did the U.S. Just Kill Five Kids in Syria?
• Middle East Eye: Turkey: ‘Safe Zone’ to Block Kurdish Militia and ISIS
• The Guardian: Defeating ISIS in Syria is Essential to Prevent Catastrophe
• The Guardian: Australia Should Join the Fight Against ISIS and Bomb Syria, Says Liberal MP
• Yahoo News: Syrian Opposition Heads for Russia Cold on Anti-IS Assad Coalition