Syrian Coalition: Air Strikes Alone Won’t Defeat ISIS

President Hadi al-Bahra said that “defeating ISIS requires deploying ground troops in conjunction with the air strikes launched by the international anti-ISIS coalition in order to fill the vacuum that would ensue after driving ISIS out of the areas under their control,” in an interview with the Anadolu news agency. “Defeating ISIS also requires coordination between the international coalition and the Free Syrian Army, the only force capable of eradicating terrorism and its root cause, namely the Assad regime which largely created this monster by deliberately setting free the extremists who fueled ISIS. We renew our outright rejection of both the Assad regime and ISIS and our commitment to build a Syria where all its citizens live free and with dignity regardless of their religion, sect or ethnicity. Nasr al-Hariri, Secretary General of the Syrian Coalition, said earlier that the Syrian revolution has laid bare the ineffectiveness of the international community’s efforts in dealing with the Syrian conflict as it is still insist on excluding the Iranian and Hezbollah militias from the list of terrorist groups.” Hariri concluded his remarks stressing that “with the start of the international airstrikes against ISIS, we have sent a very clear warning that the Assad regime would considerably benefit from these airstrikes if the FSA did not receive the support it needs to take on ISIS positions that will be targeted by these strikes. The international anti-ISIS coalition needs to offer a viable alternative for the youth who are joining ISIS as they would not have done so had it not been for the lack of support given to the moderate rebel factions.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)