MOSCOW, September 23 (RIA Novosti) – Abdulkader Hariri, a Twitter user living in Raqqa, is believed to be the one who broke the news of US airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria 30 minutes before Pentagon confirmed that information, the Telegraph reports.
Hariri posted his first tweet on the popular microblogging service stating that “huge explosions shook the city” of Raqqa, IS stronghold since early 2013 and the capital of the so-called caliphate.
Breaking: Huge explosions shook the city in what might be the beginning of US airstrikes on ISIS HQs in Raqqa
— Abdulkader Hariri (@3bdUlkaed6r) 23 сентября 2014
Hariri also reported that the US was targeting the governorate building occupied by IS militants. “The sky is full drones over Raqqa now,” Syrian user said in his last tweet on the matter.
The airstrikes 5/6 concentrated near the 'governorate building' ISIS's main HQ. Meanwhile, sounds of warplanes can be heard clearly
— Abdulkader Hariri (@3bdUlkaed6r) 23 сентября 2014
The sky is full drones over Raqqa now
— Abdulkader Hariri (@3bdUlkaed6r) 23 сентября 2014
Half an hour later US Department of Defense confirmed that the United States has widened the geographical scope of its campaign to degrade and destroy IS, to include targets in Syria. Prior to that, Washington had conducted 190 airstrikes across Iraq in its battle against the radical Sunni group.
US military & partner nation forces have begun striking ISIL targets in Syria using mix of fighters, bombers and Tomahawk missiles.
— Rear Adm. John Kirby (@PentagonPresSec) 23 сентября 2014
The United States informed Syria of the upcoming operation “hours before the raids started”, according to AFP. Several Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, participated in the attack, Washington Post reported citing a US defense official.
