Tribal Elders Blamed For IS Militant Advances

By Stuart Ramsay, Sky News Chief Correspondent

Sirens wailing, lights flashing, the truck carrying six armed paramilitaries and a roof gunner from the Kurdish state security branch, Asayish, guided us into a notorious Arab neighbourhood in downtown Kirkuk.

It's from these virtual ghettos that the sporadic car bomb attacks in Kurdistan are planned and built.

Our guards are themselves a target and throughout our visit were jumpy and unhappy. I was assigned one of their number, a huge man armed to the teeth, for the whole time. He never left my side.

The rest of the security detail were deployed on the streets and alleyways. We were, they said, both a kidnap and bomb risk.

It felt a bit like over kill to be frank; but I didn't actually have a choice.

A military convoy drives towards Kirkuk, to reinforce peshmerga troops

Outside a school building I could see a few children playing in the street and a sort of greeting party forming up.

We were meeting displaced people, Sunni Arabs who have left Iraq proper to find sanctuary in Kurdistan.

Our security didn't know them and feared fundamentalists amongst their ranks.

Armed men walking into the temporary homes of Arab families, their children and their wives and daughters and their space, violated by our arrival.

I could sense the tension and approached the most senior looking guy and extended my hand and made the traditional greetings in Arabic.

Kirkuk has been the scene of several bombings in recent months

Within minutes I was surrounded by a group of their leaders. A friendly, scared and ultimately grateful group of men.

They crossed here to escape the bombing and fighting in their towns; to avoid Islamic State for sure, but also to escape the wrath of blood thirsty Shia militia.

This microcosm of Iraq speaks volumes.

They do not want some looney form of IS Islam. They don't want fighting. They want a fair share of Iraq, a government that represents them, an army that protects them.

IS has survived because they have offered a protection from the Baghdad government and are offering a society where they will be allowed to be Sunni without fear of attack.

Displaced Sunni Arabs are sceptical more airstrikes will help the conflict

These people are the ones who will decide the future of IS. One of the men asked to speak to me away from the group.

"I am Sunni. I agree with my friends here. But IS is being allowed to do all this by our tribal elders. The elders are behind everything. Tell your governments you have to speak to them," he said.

As airstrikes gain momentum and Britain decides to join in, I asked the group what they thought of it all.

Quite sceptical would best sum up their response.

They fear who would replace IS and they doubt they can be driven out from the air.

"What do your countries want us to do?," one of them asked.

"Will you arm us to fight IS? Will you support us in the future? Our government is a joke we trust none of them.

"They may have changed the faces and made a new government, but they are the same people. Nothing is changing."

IS and peshmerga troops are metres away from each other near Kirkuk

The basic strategy of the West is to attack IS but to try and urge the new government to be inclusive of all the religious and ethnic groups that make up this country.

That will take a very long time of course and that is really the problem because as every day passes IS are getting more bedded in.

It has only been a few months but their command and control of areas is staggering.

The most striking part of this incredibly informative hour or so was their total "getting" of Kurdistan.

An ethnic group of majority Sunnis who see Nation above Religion; in much the same way as the UK does.

"This country protects its people and they are protecting us. They have no need to but they are. That is what we want. A country that looks after all of us," one of them said.

Not an unreasonable demand. But right now it's just a hope.

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UK Military Planners Call Iraq Mission 'Dynamic'

By Tom Parmenter, RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus

The send off for the RAF Tornado jets finished with a simple thumbs up from the ground crew waving them off.

The planning and preparation for British airstrikes is now at full pace at RAF Akrotiri and everyone on the base on Cyprus knows their mission has now escalated.

On Saturday morning the Tornado crews strode out across the tarmac, two teams of two, helmets on.

They knew the cameras were there to capture the moment that debate and politics gave way to military action. The deployment of British bombs in Iraq is now in their hands.

Now that this is a combat mission their identities are protected, all we know is that they are some of the RAF's most skilled and experienced individuals.

Their families will know that their loved ones are now going to war rather than simply flying reconnaissance missions over Iraq.

The intelligence gathering will continue apace on these sorties and there may be flights in the coming days and weeks where they don't need to deploy missiles.

Military planners call the mission "dynamic" - it means that the plans will change according to what's happening on the ground.

The professionalism of everyone who works to support these missions means they want to respond to the orders efficiently and carry out their job as precisely as possible.

Every time they leave this base the ground crews will wave them off, every time they return they'll be relieved to welcome them back.

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Iraq: Islamic State Threat Is World's Problem

Iraq's deputy prime minister has told Sky News that it is the "duty of the world" to stand up against Islamic State extremists.

Saleh al Mutlaq also said he welcomed the UK parliament's decision to back airstrikes against the militants in his country.

He said IS was "not just the problem of Iraq. It is the problem of all countries".

Iraq's deputy prime minister Saleh al Mutlaq speaks to Sky News

"Outsiders" from nations including Britain, Australia and the emirate countries were fighting for IS and the coalition aerial raids should target militias as well as the jihadist group, he said.

Mr al Mutlaq said: "It is an invitation for every country which can participate in this coalition to do what they can in order to get rid of IS forever.

"Iraq is now fighting on behalf of the world."

He added: "It's the duty of the world to stand against this danger which is coming, maybe now to Iraq, but it will separate everywhere if it is not going to be fixed in this country and ended."

And he said without also targeting militias who "facilitated the presence of IS" there would not be stability in Iraq.

The Sunni IS extremists have taken over large parts of Iraq and Syria in recent months and David Cameron said the group posed a direct threat to the UK.

RAF Tornado aircraft earlier left Cyprus for their first combat mission over Iraq.

A RAF Tornado GR4

They are poised to launch airstrikes against jihadists after Parliament on Friday gave the green light for military action in Iraq.

MPs voted by 524 to 43 - a majority of 481 - to endorse attacks on the insurgents in support of the US-led coalition, with Labour backing the Government motion.

Mr Cameron said the motion had been limited to Iraq in order to secure cross-party consensus.

And also to avoid a repeat of last year's damaging Commons defeat when Labour combined with Tory and Liberal Democrat rebels to block airstrikes against President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria.

The strikes, under Operation Shader, are expected to be carried out by six Tornado GR4s which have been based at RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus since last month where they have been deployed in a reconnaissance role.

Up to now, America and France have been conducting aerial strikes in Iraq in support of Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, while the US and Arab allies have attacked IS targets from the air in Syria.

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Iraq: British Jets On First Combat Mission

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

British jets armed with missiles are over northern Iraq on their maiden combat mission after taking off from a base in Cyprus.

Two Tornado GR4 fighter jets - armed with missiles for the first time - took off from RAF Akrotiri at 8.30am this morning.

They are being supported by a Voyager refuelling aircraft also based on the island.

The Tornados are carrying Brimstone and Paveway missiles on board and are authorised to fire them if they encounter Islamic State (IS) militants.

Precise details of the mission are still unknown, but they will be flying over Iraq according to the tasking given to them by US Central Command.

It is thought to be a dynamic close air support mission, hitting targets if and when they reveal themselves.

A member of the aircrew prepares to depart on the first mission. Pic: MOD

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We can confirm that following Parliamentary approval given yesterday, Royal Air Force Tornados continue to fly over Iraq and are now ready to be used in an attack role as and when appropriate targets are identified.

"For operational security reasons we will not be providing a running commentary on movements; we will provide an update on activity when it is appropriate to do so."

It comes after MPs overwhelmingly backed action in a vote in the House of Commons on Friday.

The Tornados are being supported by a Voyager refuelling aircraft

Parliament gave approval by 524 votes to 43 (a majority of 481) for Britain to join the US-led coalition in the Middle East.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said Britain is ready to play its part in dealing with IS.

He said: "We are one part of a large international coalition. But the crucial part of that coalition is that it is led by the Iraqi government, the legitimate government of Iraq, and its security forces.

"We are there to play our part and help deal with this appalling terrorist organisation."

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told Sky News Britain would select targets "in accordance with the American and international effort that's going on in Iraq.

"There's fighting around these towns - we have to fit in to the day-to-day fighting and see where we can help best," he said.

The planes have been at RAF Akrotiri for the past six weeks carrying out surveillance missions over the Middle East.

An RAF pilot at the base on Saturday morning

The US has been carrying out airstrikes in northern Iraq since August and France joined the mission last week.

Overnight, the US continued to hit suspected IS positions in Syria for a fifth consecutive day of attacks.

The Pentagon said the raids had disrupted lucrative oil-pumping operations that have helped fund IS militants, but that a final victory would need an on-the-ground campaign.

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FBI: Islamic State's Jihadi John Identified

FBI Director James Comey says the bureau has identified the Islamic State (IS) militant known as Jihadi John.

But Mr Comey told reporters at the agency's headquarters in Washington DC he would not reveal the man's name or nationality.

The FBI director would not name the militant known as Jihadi John

He reportedly said: "I believe that we have identified him, I'm not going to tell you who I believe it is."

Asked if he would prioritise capturing the killer, he said: "We will do, and expend the effort that I think the American people would want us to and expect us to."

The UK Home Office said it did not comment on security operations.

Jihadi John appears to be left-handed and of average height and build

The jihadist group shocked the world when it released videos of a man with a southern English accent apparently killing two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and a British aid worker, David Haines.

In the three clips, the suspect holds a long knife and appears to begin hacking at the captives' necks. He shows only his eyes in all three videos.

Mr Haines widow has backed targeted British airstrikes.

The British Ambassador to the US, Sir Peter Westmacott, said last month the UK was close to identifying the suspect.

(L-R) James Foley, Steven Sotloff and David Haines

Sophisticated technology, including voice-recognition software, was being used to track him down, he added.

From the footage, the militant appears to be left-handed and of average height and build.

He was said to lead a small group of British jihadis who became known by hostages as The Beatles.

The FBI director also said around a dozen Americans are believed to be currently fighting with extremist groups in Syria.

He said more than 100 Americans in total had either managed to reach Syria, had been arrested while trying to travel there, or had gone and returned.

In his briefing, Mr Comey said a shadowy al Qaeda cell in Syria known as the Khorasan Group may still be plotting attacks on the West.

He said there was no sign yet that US airstrikes this week, which American officials believe killed Khorasan's leader, had disrupted the group's plans.

It comes as the US continued to carry out airstrikes on targets in Syria - and after officials dismissed reports that IS was planning to attack US and French subway systems.

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Iraq Front Line 'Trenches' Like World War One

By Stuart Ramsay, Sky News Chief Correspondent

One can see the front line between the peshmerga and the Islamic State fighters from quite a distance on the outskirts of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

Their flags flutter in the wind. But they are so close now that from some angles you can't tell which is in front of the other.

This is the most dangerous and close front line in this conflict.

They are metres apart. Peshmerga soldiers gingerly peer over the earth wall that separates the two sides. There are snipers everywhere.

Absolutely nobody out here drops their guard for a second. On the wall, that single second lapse in concentration could cost you your life.

These battle lines are reminiscent of World War One. Two armies dug into these huge berms, trenches really, and a watery no man's land, a canal, dividing them.

Ramsay with peshmerga forces

The peshmerga are determined but lightly armed. The IS fighters are determined and heavily armed. But this is now a static front.

The pesh, as they are known, want to attack but know that across the canal IS aren't just well dug in but have the support, or at least tacit support, of the local population.

So this is about holding the line. The Kurds are hoping that will change.

In the clear blue skies above there is an occasional glint of light from the fuselage of jets patrolling and looking for IS targets.

We could hear the jet engines change tone as they began their descent into a bombing raid.

US jets have been involved in raids on IS in Iraq

From maybe a mile away we heard the explosion of a bomb drop and shortly afterwards the smoke rose into the air.

This has just started in this area but is happening across the north of Iraq. The coalition forces are attacking.

It has brought quiet to the front line. IS can't move when the jets are up. When it goes quiet they try to bring their vehicles forward.

The front lines are so close they hope the jets won't attack for fear of killing the Pesh.

In truth there have been a number of friendly fire incidents already and they are likely to continue if the US-led coalition ramps up the target selection and carries out a lot more bombing.

It's inevitable and the peshmerga understand that.

Islamic State fighters are heavily armed and determined

"We are fighting for the whole world, you have to understand that, we are fighting for everyone against these barbarians," Brigadier Bapir Sheik Wassany told me, looking across into IS territory.

"If you attack from the air and give us better weapons we will smash them. We don't want soldiers, we want weapons and airstrikes."

The pesh do have a tendency to get a bit carried away with the rhetoric.

But as a whole the Kurd military, made up of Special Forces and the Counter Terrorism Group, along with the peshmerga and a rather difficult alliance with Shia militia, can be pretty effective if they have the weapons and the all-important "Air" - the coalition's jets.

The reality is, though, that war cannot be won from the air.

In fact this war on IS probably can't be won without the actual support of the Sunni population where IS have made their home in Iraq and Syria.

Iraqi peshmerga troops load rockets into a launcher in northern Iraq

In a refugee camp in an Arab district of Kirkuk I chatted for an hour or so with Sunni refugees.

They have escaped their towns to avoid the bombing and to a degree IS, but mainly to escape the Shia militias; finding sanctuary in Kurdistan.

"We are protected by a military with one goal, to look after its people; answering to a government with one goal, to look after its people," their leader told me.

"If the airstrikes are 100% accurate on IS then we will go home. But if the Shia militia replace IS it will be worse," he said.

These people need a government that represents them and an army that they trust. If that happens then IS are finished here.

But it doesn't look likely for now and IS haven't gone anywhere.

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US-Led Airstrikes Target Oil Sites In Syria

Cameron: 'We Must Tackle Islamic State Together'

Updated: 12:41pm UK, Thursday 25 September 2014

Islamic State has "murderous plans" to expand and carry out terrorist atrocities across the world, David Cameron has warned.

Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, the Prime Minister said the militant group's rapid advance could be tackled with help from Iran and an end to Bashar al Assad's regime in Syria.

Mr Cameron was speaking ahead of an emergency debate in Parliament on Friday where he is expected to win cross-party support for airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Iraq.

MPs will vote on whether RAF planes should join the US, France and five Arab states in bombing IS positions, possibly by the weekend.

The Cabinet is also meeting in London to discuss action against IS.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats pledged their support after a formal request for assistance from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi put potential UK involvement on a legal footing.

The Prime Minister insisted Britain had learned from "past mistakes" in Afghanistan and Iraq, but they would not become an excuse for inaction.

"Isil (Islamic State) is not a problem restricted to just one region. It has murderous plans to expand its borders well beyond Iraq and Syria and to carry out terrorist atrocities right across the world," he said.

"It is recruiting new fighters from all over the world. Five hundred have gone there from Britain and one of them almost certainly brutally murdered two American journalists and a British aid worker.

"We should learn the lessons of the past. But we have to learn the right lessons. Yes to careful preparation; no to rushing to join a conflict without a clear plan.

"But we must not be so frozen with fear that we don't do anything at all."

The Prime Minister's proposals only include military action in Iraq and not Syria, however, the Government has indicated that could expand but would need to be put to another vote.

Speaking on his regular LBC radio programme the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "If we were to decide to take a fuller role on Iraq and Syria then we would go back to the vote."

However, he insisted there would not be boots on the ground.

When asked about the cost of the action Mr Clegg said: "There will be funds to contribute to this but we can't say how much at the moment." But he added: "It will not break the bank."

During an historic meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier, Mr Cameron extended an invitation to Iran to join the fight against IS.

"We have severe disagreements," he said. "Iran's support for terrorist organisations, its nuclear programme, its treatment of its people; all these need to change.

"But Iran's leaders could help in defeating the threat from Isil. They could help secure a more stable, inclusive Iraq; and a more stable, inclusive Syria."

The Prime Minister added that an end to Bashar al Assad's regime in Syria was key to defeating the militant group.

"The failure to meet people's aspirations can create a breeding ground where extremist and even terrorist insurgency can take root," he said.

"In Syria, it must mean a political transition and an end to Assad's brutality. I know there are some who think that we should do a deal with Assad in order to defeat ISIL.

"But this view is dangerously misguided. Our enemies' enemy is not our friend. It is another enemy. Doing a deal with Assad will not defeat ISIL."

The PM was speaking as the US and an Arab alliance launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against strategic IS targets in Syria.

The attacks resulted in the death of a 19-year-old British insurgent from Brighton who was reportedly fighting alongside Islamist group Jabhat al Nusra against the Syrian regime.

In France, President Francois Hollande is holding an emergency meeting of his defence council following the "cowardly" beheading of French hostage Herve Gourdel in Algeria by IS-linked extremists.

French flags were set to be flown at half-mast after Mr Gourdel's murder and fighter jets carried out more airstrikes in Iraq on Thursday.

The Dutch Defence Ministry also said it was advising military personnel not to wear their uniforms on public transport over fears they could be targeted.

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Kim Jong-Un: 'Missing' Leader May Have Gout

Kim Jong-Un has not been seen in public for three weeks and now a North Korea expert has offered a possible explanation: the leader has gout.

Since being filmed in July with a distinctive limp, speculation has been rife that the 31-year-old is in ill health.

Even North Korea's state media, which has tried to avoid the issue since Mr Kim's last public appearance on 3 September, has conceded that the leader has been suffering from "discomfort".

A voiceover for a pre-recorded documentary, aired on Thursday, said: "The wealth and prosperity of our socialism is thanks to the painstaking efforts of our marshal, who keeps lighting the path for the people, like the flicker of a flame, despite suffering discomfort."

According to Michael Madden, an expert on leadership in the secretive state, Mr Kim's extreme weight gain and family history reveals a lot about his condition.

"Based on his gait, it appears he has gout - something due to diet and genetic predisposition that has affected other members of the Kim family," he added.

Kim Jong-Un's father, Kim Jong-Il, died in 2011 after a heart attack.

Much of the speculation over Mr Kim's health had come from the South Korean government, who had monitored his recent absence from public life "with interest".

On Thursday, Mr Kim failed to attend a rare meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang, his first absence since coming to power.

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US Coalition Pounds IS Targets For A Third Night

US and Arab coalition aircraft have bombarded Islamic State targets in Syria for a third night as Barack Obama promised to "dismantle this network of death".

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the operation to destroy oil refineries in eastern Syria which are capable of producing millions of dollars' worth of revenue for the group.

A mix of manned and remotely-piloted aircraft were used to target oil production facilities near Al Mayadin, Al Hasakah and Abu Kamal.

US Navy F-18E Super Hornets leave after receiving fuel over northern Iraq

A statement released by US Central Command said early indications suggested the strikes had been successful.

"These small-scale refineries provided fuel to Isil (Islamic State) operations, money to finance their continued attacks throughout Iraq and Syria, and an economic asset to support their future operations.

"The US conducted these strikes as part of the President's comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy Isil.

Syrian Kurds fleeing the Islamic State cross into Turkey

"The US and partner nations will continue to conduct airstrikes against Isil in Syria and Iraq and support Iraqi forces as they go on the offensive against this terrorist group."

But Syrian Kurds who fled towns and cities overrun by Islamic State said the group had responded to the airstrikes by focusing its assault near Syria's border with Turkey.

Despite the coalition's military superiority, an intensifying advance by IS militants on the northern town of Kobani underscored the difficulty Washington faces using airpower alone.

Obama warned IS militants to "leave the battlefield while they can"

"Those airstrikes are not important. We need soldiers on the ground," said Hamed, a refugee who fled into Turkey from Islamic State.

A teacher from Kobani who made it across the Turkish border said two of his brothers had been captured by the group.

Mazlum Bergaden said: "The situation is very bad. After they kill people, they are burning the villages. When they capture any village, they behead one person to make everyone else afraid.

"They are trying to eradicate our culture, purge our nation."

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 militants and five civilians were killed in the airstrikes.

Some 140,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey in the last four days alone, and authorities are preparing for many more.

US President Barack Obama has called on the world to join together to destroy Islamic State, which he branded a "network of death".

Addressing the United Nations, he vowed to keep up the pressure on the militants, warning them to "leave the battlefield while they can".

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IS-Linked Group Beheads Hostage In Video

A French hostage has been beheaded in a video released by an Algerian group linked to Islamic State.

Herve Gourdel, a 55-year-old hiker from Nice in southern France, was kidnapped on Sunday by Jund al Khilifa.

The group had given France a 24-hour deadline to stop its airstrikes against IS in Iraq.

French president Francois Hollande confirmed the video was genuine and denounced the killing as "cruel and cowardly".

He added that he will be chairing a special security meeting at the Elysee Palace on Thursday.

In the clip issued by Algerian militants, the tourist was seen kneeling with his arms bound behind his back, as four masked men read a message in Arabic condemning France.

Mr Gourdel was then pushed on to his side and held down.

Shortly after the group - known as the Caliphate Soldiers in English - released the video, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius insisted the abduction would not deter his nation's participation in a US-led offensive against IS.

The video was entitled A Message With Blood To The French Government, and began to circulate on jihadist websites on Wednesday.

It began with an excerpt of Mr Hollande making a speech, before showing Mr Gourdel in his final moments of life.

Prior to the mountain guide's beheading, Mr Hollande had insisted: "As grave as this situation is, we will not give in to any blackmail, any pressure, any ultimatum, no matter how odious, how despicable."

In a statement before news of the killing emerged, Mr Gourdel's family said they had learned of the kidnapping "with great pain", and described him as a "father, partner, son, brother and very dear friend".

Intelligence sources believe there could be 10 Western hostages still being held by Islamic State.

One Briton, David Haines, and Americans James Foley and Steven Sotloff, have been killed by the group in the past few weeks.

Islamic State has threatened to kill Alan Henning, a British aid convoy volunteer.

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