Kerry says ISIL can be defeated within ‘months’ of a Syrian ceasefire

Speaking at the OSCE ministerial council meeting in Belgrade, US secretary of state John Kerry urged the world to come together behind a peace strategy recently hashed out by the United States, RussiaShow more

BELGRADE // The US secretary of state said on Thursday that ISIL can be defeated within “months” of a ceasefire between Syria’s government and moderate rebels.

Speaking in Belgrade at a security event, John Kerry urged the world to come together behind a peace strategy recently hashed out by the United States, Russia and other countries.

Meanwhile, the UK became more involved in the fight against ISIL yesterday, with British warplanes hitting oilfields in eastern Syria used to fund the extremist group. The strikes came hours after British lawmakers voted 397 to 223 to support prime minister David Cameron’s plan to extend air strikes from Iraq to Syria.

“There are plenty more of these targets throughout eastern, northern Syria which we hope to be striking in the next few days and weeks,” defence secretary Michael Fallon said.

The British contribution forms only a tiny part of US-led “Operation Inherent Resolve”, which has been bombing ISIL targets in both Iraq and Syria for more than a year with hundreds of aircraft. The strikes have so far failed to dislodge the militants from a swathe of territory they have captured, although Washington and its allies say they have helped halt the fighters’ advance.

Although the British vote adds negligible new military capability to the coalition – a total of 16 UK warplanes will be available to bomb ISIL in Syria – it has taken on disproportionate political and diplomatic significance after gunmen and bombers killed 130 people last month in Paris. Following the attacks, France called for solidarity from Europe’s other main military power in expanding military action.

Britain will bring extra precision firepower to the Syria air campaign but its participation will be no game-changer, according to experts.

“It will not make a big operational difference,” said Malcolm Chalmers, research director at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), a think tank.

Julian Lewis, the Conservative chairman of the Commons defence select committee, said: “The difference the UK can make by joining the bombing effort to the challenge of eliminating IS will be highly marginal”.

Before the vote, the UK’s Akrotiri base in Cyprus had eight Tornado jets and 10 MQ-9 Reaper drones, two of which took part in a one-off mission to kill two British militants in Syria in September.

This force was bolstered on Thursday by two additional Tornado jets and six newer-built Typhoon fighters.

Nevertheless, this does not make a large difference to the combined firepower of the anti-ISIL coalition, according to Justin Bronk, a research analyst in military sciences at Rusi.

“Extending the current British combat air power contingent committed against Daesh in Iraq to cover Syria too will not make a very significant difference to the coalition,” Mr Bronk said.

Mr Kerry said air power alone won’t be enough to defeat the extremists. The campaign will require ground forces, too, he said at the meeting in Belgrade of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He later specified that those would be local Syrian and Arab boots on the ground, not Western troops.

The US secretary of state has been spearheading international efforts to broker an end to fighting between Syrian president Bashar Al Assad’s government and moderate opposition forces, and a political transition process involving elements of each side. The thinking is that peace between the government and moderates would allow the international community to focus military efforts exclusively on defeating ISIL, Al Qaeda’s Syria affiliate and other extremist groups.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have endorsed the process. Iran, along with Russia, is Mr Al Assad’s biggest backer. Saudi Arabia and other Arabian Gulf countries have provided much of the assistance to the rebels.

Diplomats hope to start direct discussions between Syria’s government and the opposition in the next few weeks. Mr Kerry said a political transition would be a boon for everyone, allowing ISIL to be “eliminated within a matter of months.”

A new round of international talks on ending the war will be held in New York, UN scretary-general Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday. Diplomats said the talks were likely to be held on December 18.

The four-year-old civil war in Syria has killed 250,000 people and driven 11 million from their homes.

Also on Thursday, ISIL posted online a gruesome video showing six of its child soldiers killing Syrian security forces held captive by the extremists.

Titled “To the Sons of Jews,” the slickly-produced video shows dozens of boys, who appeared to be about 10 years old, studying religious texts and learning hand-to-hand combat.

Six of the boys are chosen by their instructor to “send a message” to ISIL’s opponents by executing security forces held by the group.

The group’s “Cubs of the Caliphate” programme provides military and religious training to children in the areas of Syria under its control.

* Agencies