US-led strikes hit Homs province and IS oil fields, reports

The US-led coalition hit Islamic State group targets in Syria's central province of Homs for the first time Saturday as it pressed what Washington says are "near continuous" strikes, a monitoring group said.

The coalition also targeted IS in the town of Minbej, east of second city Aleppo, for the first time, as well as multiple targets in the Islamic State heartland province of Raqqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said the targets hit in Homs province were far away from the front line with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, who control Homs city, Syria's third largest.

"The US-Arab coalition has for the first time struck IS bases in the eastern desert of Homs province," Abdel Rahman said, adding that the positions were in the area of al-Hammad, east of ancient city Palmyra.

Activists have also told Al-Jazeera that airstrikes struck near the town of Kobane, near the Syria-Turkey border, which has been a centre of fighting between Kurds and IS.

Washington has been keen not to let Assad's forces exploit the air campaign against IS to take the upper hand in the more than three-year-old civil war.

However, speculation about increasing cooperation between Assad and the coalition is growing.

Earlier this week Iraqi National Security Advisor Faleh al-Fayyad visited Syria to discuss the ongoing operation, leading some analysts to comment that Fayyad might be acting as an intermediately. The US continues to deny that it has had any direct cooperation with Damascus, although reports have emerged in Syrian media claiming that the US is informing authorities about some of its strikes.

According to Western diplomatic sources quoted in the pro-government Al-Watan paper, the US and Syria are using third party operatives to exchange security information about the movements of weapons convoys, leaders and other Islamic State activities, though there is still no direct discussion.

Though the paper pointed out that the US was unwilling to acknowledge any convert collaboration with Syria, the sources conceded that the US would eventually have to acknowledge its cooperation with the Assad government.

Strikes intensify  

In eastern Aleppo province - the western limit of IS control - the coalition hit several militant targets in Minbej, said the Observatory, which relies on a broad network of activists and doctors for its reports.

Further east, the coalition pounded the city of Raqqa, which Islamic State have made their headquarters, the Britain-based group said.

"At least 31 explosions were heard in Raqqa city and its surroundings."

The strikes also hit IS targets around the town of Tabqa, which houses an air base whose capture from Assad forces by the militants last month sealed their occupation of the whole of Raqqa province, as well as two training camps, the Observatory added.

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel told reporters earlier Friday that US and Arab coalition warplanes have carried out more than 40 bombing strikes this week against the IS group, including attacks on the organisation's oil refineries.

"Combined with our ongoing efforts in Iraq, these strikes will continue to deny [Islamic State] the freedom of movement and challenge its ability to plan, direct, and sustain its operations," Hagel said.

The United States and its Arab allies first launched air strikes against IS and other militant positions in northern and eastern Syria on Tuesday.

A US defence official told AFP on Friday that the mission is now similar to US-led air raids against IS in Iraq, with "near continuous" combat flight operations over Syria.

UK joins strikes in Iraq

The UK parliament yesterday voted to join other coalition partners in strike action on Iraq with a clear majority of MPs, including those in the opposition Labour Party, backing their country carrying out strikes on IS.

The House of Commons voted by a majority of 524 to 43 after the main political parties all approved military action saying that "lessons from the past" of the 2003 Iraq war had been learned. "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," Prime Minister David Cameron said ahead of the vote.

He warned the campaign could last for "years" as dissenting MPs in the debate questioned the duration and scope of the operation.

Air strikes are expected to commence some time this weekend.

Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP for Tower Hamlets - which has one of the largest Muslim populations of any UK borough -  resigned as shadow education minister before the vote saying she worried “further air strikes will only create further bloodshed and pain in Iraq”.

UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, speaking after the vote, said “you will not see an immediate series of particular hits. This is going to be a long campaign of weeks and probably months. We will be very careful to avoid civilian casualties."

"Each of these missions will have to be personally authorised by me and there are clear rules of engagement,” Fallon added.