(ANSA) - Rome, September 23 - Italy has pledged a refuelling aircraft and military instructors for the US-led campaign against Islamic State (ISIS) militants operating in Syria and Iraq, Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said Tuesday.
The United States started attacking ISIS in northern Syria on a massive scale Monday night, using fighter planes, bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from ships in the region. The military operation continues.
"If there are other needs in future we will evaluate the response to make," Pinotti said. "We have officers at the operation's command headquarters in Tampa, Florida. They will update us on the programming and evolution of the situation," she added.
The US is leading a broad coalition against ISIS militants, who have carved out swathes of Syria and Iraq into a self-proclaimed caliphate. Last week Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherina said Italy would not take part in air strikes against the terrorist organisation but that it might provide other kinds of military support.
The US warned Syria that the raid would take place, the Syrian foreign minister said.
The Syrian government said via a statement released on State TV Tuesday that it supported every effort to combat terrorism. Moscow had said Damascus's consent for the raids was essential.
"The Americans informed the Syrian UN representative that bombardments would take place against the Islamic State terrorist organization in Ar-Raqqah," the foreign minister told Syrian state television. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the US military forces and partner nations are conducting the military actions against ISIS terrorists in Syria.
Kirby added that as long as the operations were underway no more details could be disclosed.
Other US defence sources confirmed that the "partner nations" that are "fully" participating are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Bahrain. The decision to conduct air strikes overnight was made by US Central Command based on authorization received by the commander in chief, President Barack Obama, said Admiral Kirby. The US has identified at least 20 targets to hit in the first wave of bombings in Syria, according to the Washington Post.
Washington said Tuesday that some of the raids that it started late Monday in Syria targeted terrorists plotting an attack on the United States. "Separately, the US has also taken action to disrupt the imminent attack plotting against the US and Western interests conducted by a network of seasoned al-Qaeda veterans - sometimes referred to as the Khorasan Group - who have established a safe haven in Syria to develop external attacks, construct and test improvised explosive devices and recruit Westerners to conduct operations," said a statement by US Central Command. "These strikes were undertaken only by US assets".
The attacks follow a campaign begun August 8 against ISIS targets in Iraq. Since then, American fighter planes have taken aim on a daily basis and destroyed at least 190 targets. The new targets are located in the "heart" of the Islamic State, in Ar-Raqqah, the northern Syrian city where the "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi placed his "capital", the location of Islamic State command and control centers, training camps, weapons depots and ammunition, sources say.
Confirmation of US attacks have come in recent hours from city residents in Twitter messages that make reference to numerous explosions and continuous war plane surveillance.