Live Blog: War against Islamic State

British warplanes flew their first mission over Iraq on Saturday since being given parliamentary authority to strike at Islamic State jihadists, the Ministry of Defence in London said.

Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 combat jets, armed with Paveway IV laser-guided bombs, took off from Britain's RAF Akrotiri base on Cyprus.

In an operation that began before dawn, the jets were loaded with Paveways before taking off from the Mediterranean island.

The graph shows the increasing public support in the UK for strikes in against Islamic State.

The poll, conducted by YouGov, does not mention the caveat that strikes will so far only take place in Iraq.

The US Defence Department has called claims of an accidental hit on a USAID project in Syria today "completely false."

There had been reports earlier in the day that a US airstrike had hit a USAID-funded civil defence organisation in Bdama, in the Idlib governorate of north-western Syria.

The US Defence Department told MEE that "media reports alleging that two US air strikes today hit a humanitarian assistance project in Bdama, Idlib in Syria are completely false.  The US military and partner nations have conducted no airstrikes at any time in the vicinity of that location."

USAID, the United States Aid and International Development organisation, refused to comment on whether one of its facilities had been hit.

Rudaw, a Kurdish news site, reports that Turkish soldiers have fired on people fleeing northwards into Turkey from Kurdish areas of Syria (known locally as Rojava).

A correspondent from the news site said that the troops had opened fire after Kurds refused to leave the no-man's land at the border.

Earlier, a journalist who is on the ground in Kobane reported seeing the body of a man shot dead by Turkish soldiers.

Selahattin Demirtas, a representative of the Peoples' Democratic Party in Turkey, earlier held a press conference in which he warned that the border town of Kobane is in grave danger.

"Whatever needs to be done for Kobane must be done today, not tomorrow."

He said he had spoken to people in the town, who said Islamic State were around 1 kilometre from Kobane.

There were reports of fighting in the streets in Kobane, but Kurt Pelda denied that clashes have yet reached the town itself.

The map above shows approximate locations of the airstrikes carried out by the US on Thursday and Friday, according to their recent press release.

The statement did not mention which other coalition partners, if any, had participated in the strikes.

In a press release just published by US Central Command, Washington claims to have destroyed or damaged at least a dozen pieces of heavy weaponry being used by Islamic State militants.

According to the statement, 10 airstrikes were carried out on Thursday and Friday, seven of which were in Iraq.

Washington says that the strikes destroyed four IS tanks and five armed vehicles as well as other vehicles and infrastructure including a bunker and a guard shack.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Friday that the US is spending "$7-$10m a day" on the operation.

The money is coming from the Overseas Contingency Operations Fund, which was called the Global War on Terror Fund until a 2009 decision to rebrand it.

Although strikes are successfully targeting IS infrastructure, according to Washington, activists claim that they are doing little to stem the flow of new fighters into the organisation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that 200 new fighters have joined the group since US President Barack Obama announced that there would be airstrikes against the group in Syria.

Activists in Raqqa, the northern Syrian town under IS control, have posted a video claiming to show a huge military display in the town on Friday.

The video shows tanks and heavy weaponry driving through the streets of the town, bedecked with the black flag.

The video is titled: When ISIS want to scare the people of Raqqa.

Lebanon's Prime Minister, Tammam Salam, followed the Iraqi President at the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday.

Salam stressed that the crimes being committed in Iraq and Syria by Islamic State militants are "unprecendented", and said he welcomed the Security Council's decisions on combatting terrorism.

He also highlighted the impact the crisis in Syria is having on neighbouring Lebanon, which he said is now hosting 1.5m Syrians who have fled over the border.

Lebanon has an entire population of just under 4.5m.

Salam said the presence of huge numbers of Syrian refugees has come to represent a "national catastrophe" for Lebanon, calling on the international community to share responsibility for Syrians who have fled.

Washington said in a statement on Friday night that the fight to root out Islamic State will require the participation of between 12,000 and 15,000 fighters from the Syrian opposition.

General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters on Friday that he stands by his statement last week that US troops might be deployed in Iraq or Syria.

As he and Chuck Hagel, US Secretary of Defence, spoke at a press conference from the Pentagon, Dempsey was asked whether he stood by his 'boots on the ground' statement.

"If you are asking me, would I provide my best military advice at all times the answer is absolutely. If you are suggesting that at some point, I might recommend we need a big ground force to fight ISIL, the answer is also absolutely. The only truly effective force to reduce ISIL is a force comprised of Iraqi and Kurds and moderate Syrian opposition. At some point, if we have to advise them more closely than we currently are, of course, I would recommend that. I just stand by the statement . . . the president gave me a mission - destroy ISIL - and I will do what it takes to destroy ISIL."

Seated next to Dempsey on a dais, Hagel - who was one of several US officials who appeared to distance themselves from Dempsey's comments last week - said, "In all the meetings I’ve been in for past one and a half years, the president and I have made it clear that he expects the absolute most direct and honest military advice that Dempsey and other military leaders have given. He must get it and he relies on it."

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in the day that he wants a no-fly zone implimented in Syria to prevent civilians from aerial attacks launched by Assad's forces, though he did not clarify where the no-fly zone would be located.

Commenting on his return from the UN General Assembly in New York, Erdogan said he had already discussed the possibility with US President Barack Obama and Vice-Presiden Joe Biden.

He also said a "secure area" should be established on the Syrian side of the Turkish-Syrian border.

That zone could be protected by Turkish artillery, AP reports.

Iraqi President Fouad Massoum told the UN General Council on Friday afternoon that Iraq’s government, sworn in earlier this month, was established in “a response to a real danger stalking us all – ISIS.”

In his 10-minute or so speech, Massoum focused broadly on the fight against Islamic State militants without saying anything particularly controversial or specific. He thanked the US-led coalition of countries who recently gathered in Jeddah and Paris ahead of expanding the campaign against IS with airstrikes in Syria. “I would like to express the gratitude of the people of Iraq in all of their stripes for all of those who stood by us in our war against enemies of humanity,” Massoum said.

He also said:

• “The most dangerous phenomenon of the Islamic State is a new generation of terrorists who have American and EU citizenship.”
• “We in Iraq are determined to cleanse our land of ISIS. We would like to stress to you that eliminating ISIS will be an important step in defending and protecting the world against this danger.”
• “I stand here as a representative of a country that was decimated by terror for over a decade. On behalf of the millions of families of martyrs and orphans and the bereaved, I am here to tell you that we have no other option but to defeat ISIS everywhere.”
• It pained Iraqis to see “the suffering of the fraternal people in Gaza and other Palestinian people lately” and encouraged the international community to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
• Iraq wished Yemen and Libya “stability” and said Iraq hoped that the countries could “get rid of the threats of terrorism and extremism” and then move forward with a political path chosen by the people.

Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Chuck Hagel, US Secretary of Defence, are speaking at a joint press conference now.

Dempsey told reporters that air strikes will not be enough to root out Islamic State, either in Iraq or Syria.

He stressed the importance of non-American combat troops in confronting IS, but gave no details as to which country would be tasked with supplying these forces.

Hagel emphasised that, though the strikes in Syria are dealing severe blows to groups opposing President Bashar al-Assad's government, there is no co-ordination with Assad, nor will there be in the future.

The group of nations launching strikes on militants in Iraq and Syria has been called many things: anti-ISIL coalition, anti-terror coalition, anti-IS coalition.

Arabic-speaking social media users opposed to the coalition have dubbed it something else, and coined a new hashtag to boot.

#Crusader-ArabCoalition (#التحالف_الصليبي_العربي) has been used to voice criticism of the campaign, with many users today using the hashtag to post photos of anti-intervention protests in Iraq, Syria and beyond.

The most prominent banner reads: "No to crusader intervention on Syrian soil."

Another hashtag on the topic of intervention is #AgainstIslamicStateAndTheCoalition (#ضد_داعش_والتحالف).

The hashtag has over 250,000 impressions so far. 

The hashtag division highlights, according to one prominent user of #AgainstIslamicStateAndTheCoalition, deeper differences in the political viewpoints of commentators.

Translation: #AgainstIslamicStateAndTheCoalition: here you find pan-Arabists. #Crusader-ArabCoalition: here you find Islamists