WASHINGTON: US aircraft were flying "near continuous" bombing raids against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria, officials said late Friday, after Britain and two more EU nations agreed to join the US-led air armada.
The mission is now similar to US-led air raids undertaken in Iraq, with "near continuous" combat flight operations over Syria, a senior US defence official said.
"I can confirm US air operations are ongoing in Syria," the official added.
Belgium, Britain and Denmark earlier approved plans to join the war in the air, but Washington warned that up to 15,000 "moderate" rebels would need to be trained and armed to beat back the militants in Syria, where they have set up their de facto capital.
The Pentagon said air strikes -- which continued for a fifth day in Syria -- had disrupted lucrative oil-pumping operations that have helped fund the militants, but that a final victory, perhaps years away, would need local boots on the ground.
British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said there would be no "immediate military action" but that it would be a "long, drawn-out campaign."
He welcomed "a lot of support" for military action in Syria as well, during a sometimes heated parliamentary debate.
Among the naysayers, opposition Labour MP Rashanara Ali, a spokeswoman on education, said she was stepping down from her post in the shadow cabinet in order to abstain from the vote.
"Too many mistakes have been made over the last decade and far too many people in conflict zones have had to pay a high price for misconceived actions by the UK and other countries," Ali said in a letter to party leader Ed Miliband.
Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister David Cameron told lawmakers that IS must be confronted.
"This is not a threat on the far side of the world. Left unchecked, we will face a terrorist caliphate on the shores of the Mediterranean," Cameron said.
This led to criticism of the operation from Russia, whose Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at the United Nations that the US-led strikes are illegal unless coordinated with Syria -- a Moscow ally.
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