US 'Ready To Take Action Against IS In Syria'

The US has said it will not be restricted by the Iraq-Syria border as it considers further action against Islamic State militants.

White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes the US stood ready to take action to protect American citizens as the group was more dangerous now than it was six months ago.

The US has already carried out airstrikes on the group - formerly known as ISIS or ISIL - in Iraq as it has sought to support government forces and Kurdish Peshmerga in their attempts to push back the jihadists.

However, it has so far steered clear of Syria, except for a brief special forces raid which attempted to rescue journalist James Foley and other American hostages.

Red shows areas controlled by IS, while yellow is areas of fighting

Mr Foley was beheaded by a member of the group - believed to be British - in a video released earlier this week. The black-clad militant said the journalist was killed in retaliation for US airstrikes.

"When you see somebody killed in such a horrific way, that represents a terrorist attack- that represents a terrorist attack against our country and against an American citizen," Mr Rhodes told reporters at the White House

He added that the US had done everything it could to rescue American hostages but would keep trying to get back those still held by the group.

The announcement that the US would consider acting in Syria came after the former head of the British Army said the West should consider negotiating with Syrian president Bashar al Assad to tackle IS.

Lord Dannatt told Sky News: "You have to at least consider the otherwise unpalatable thought that maybe we've got to have some kind of dialogue, whether it's under the counter or over the counter, with President Assad of Syria.

Journalist James Foley was beheaded on video by an IS militant

"The old dictum that my enemy's enemy is my friend just might have some credence in this less than satisfactory and pretty extraordinary set of times that we are in."

However, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond ruled out working with Mr Assad - who is accused of carrying out war crimes, including chemical attacks, during his country's three-year civil war.

He said Britain would help Kurdish and Iraqi forces with weapons and training once there was a credible government in place in Baghdad.

However, efforts to form a new government around Prime Minister-designate Haider al Abadi were dealt a major blow when Sunni politicians pulled out of talks following an attack on a mosque that killed at least 64 people and injured 60 others.

The mass killing at Friday prayers was initially blamed on Shia militia allied with the government but there have also been suggestions that IS fighters, who have been trying to recruit Sunni tribes in the area, could have staged the attack.

Kurdish Peshmerga are leading the fightback against IS in Iraq

Elsewhere, Kurdish forces have launched a major assault to try to retake the northeast Iraqi towns of Jalula and Sadiyah.

Sky's Alex Crawford, reporting from the outskirts of Jalula, said the operation was being carried out by the Kurdish military's elite counter-terrorism unit, backed up by peshmerga forces.

She said the towns, near the Iranian border and semi-autonomous Kurdish region, had been under IS control for more than two months.

"What is significant about this assault is that they (the Kurds) are doing this pretty much entirely on their own," she said.

"They've had very little air support. There is no evidence of any outside weaponry, military hardware to back them up."

Although US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has warned that IS is the most dangerous threat faced by America for years, the FBI on Friday said there were no specific or credible threats that the group was planning an attack on US soil.

An intelligence bulletin, issued to state and local law enforcement, said officials were concerned though that IS supporters could attack overseas targets with little warning.

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Mosque Massacre Undermines Anti-IS Drive

A sectarian attack at a mosque in Iraq has killed at least 68 Sunni Muslims, plunging efforts to form a united front against jihadists into crisis.

Officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up in the mosque north of Bagdhad, with Shia militiamen picking off fleeing worshippers with machine guns.

Attacks on mosques are acutely sensitive and have in the past unleashed a deadly series of revenge killings and counter attacks in Iraq.

PM designate Haider al Abadi is trying to form a more inclusive government

The latest attack, in Diyala province, is seen as a blow to government efforts to secure backing from Sunni groups in its battle against Islamic State (IS) extremists.

Prime Minister designate Haider al Abadi, a moderate Shia, is attempting to form a more inclusive government following the resignation of outgoing PM Nouri al Maliki.

But two influential Sunni politicians - Parliamentary Speaker Salim al Jabouri and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al Mutlak - have now pulled out of talks with the main Shi'ite political alliance after the massacre.

Lawmaker Nahida al Dayani, who is from Diyala, said about 150 worshippers were at Imam Wais mosque when the militiamen arrived.

Diyala has seen heavy fighting between Iraqi troops and IS (file pic)

"Sectarian militias entered and opened fire at worshippers. Most mosques have no security," she told Reuters.

The attack came as thousands of Peshmerga and counter-terrorism soldiers continued to battle Islamic militants around the nearby towns of Jalula and Sadiyah.

Sky's Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay said the Peshmerga fighters were desperately in need of weapons and were effectively in "lockdown". 

"Peshmerga frontline positions are regularly hit from far away. There are scorch marks and burning patches everywhere," Ramsay said.

Peshmerga are fighting to gain territory from militants north of Baghdad

The extremist group pushed Kurdish forces out of the town of Jalula earlier this month after heavy fighting and the Peshmerga troops are trying to reclaim territory.

Meanwhile, the US, which is carrying out airstrikes against militants, ramped up its rhetoric over the beheading of journalist James Foley.

In Washington, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said the murder "represents a terrorist attack against our country".

Elsewhere, in the northern city of Mosul, Islamic State militants stoned a man to death after one of its self-appointed courts sentenced him for adultery, witnesses said.

The US says the killing of James Foley was a "terrorist attack" on America

The stoning was the first known instance of the punishment by Islamic State militants in Iraq since it seized large areas of the country in a June offensive.

Having poured in from Syria across a desert border that it does not recognise, the movement has declared its own caliphate.

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Russian Aid Convoy Starts Crossing Into Ukraine

Several trucks carrying Russian aid have been allowed to enter eastern Ukraine after being held at a border crossing for a week.

Russia has been is trying to send a 280-lorry relief convoy to help civilians caught up in the fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists.

Ukraine has been reluctant to let the convoy through over fears it is carrying supplies for the rebels, despite Moscow's insistence the goods were simply humanitarian aid.

Ukraine insisted the aid convoy entered under the auspices of the Red Cross

The transit comes as the Ukrainian president said he would tell Russia's Vladimir Putin to rein in pro-Moscow separatists, when the two leaders meet next week.

Petro Poroshenko said he would tell President Putin that Ukraine had "a strong country, a strong army" behind him.

President Poroshenko is due to meet Russia's leader next week

He said: "In order to have solid positions in peace negotiations, we have to be strong, to have the unity of the people, a strong country, a strong army."

"We are capable of defending our sovereignty, our independence and our territorial integrity - we are fighting for the independence of Ukraine. Together we will win for sure."

Mr Poroshenko spoke as government forces, despite taking heavy losses themselves, thrust deeper into rebel-held eastern territory, putting pressure on separatists.

Ukraine said it captured two Russian armoured vehicles

After a faltering start in April, government forces' success has alarmed some Western leaders who believe Mr Putin is being boxed in a corner.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to visit Kiev on Saturday in support for Mr Poroshenko, however diplomatic sources said she will also push Ukraine for a ceasefire to prevent a Putin backlash.

Fierce fighting has continued in the East, with 16 Ukrainian special forces troops killed in fighting on Wednesday night in the town of Ilovaisk, near Donetsk.

Sources said Germany's Angela Merkel would push for a ceasefire

Suspicion still surrounds the motives of the Russian convoy, which left a depot near Moscow more than a week ago, and claimed by opponents to being a 'Trojan horse'.

Ukrainian officials have also claimed they have discovered Russian military vehicles operating inside its borders.

The 280-truck convoy departed from near Moscow more than seven days ago

On Thursday, security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said: "Ukrainian soldiers captured two armoured vehicles of Russia's Pskov Airbourne division in a battle near Luhansk.

"One of the vehicles had a full set of documents, from driver's licences to military documents."

Russia immediately rejected allegations that it had sent vehicles into Ukraine.

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Islamic State Threat 'Completely Unprecedented'

The threat posed by Islamic State militants, who have seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq, is "beyond anything we've seen", according to US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The group, which beheaded American journalist James Foley in response to US airstrikes in Iraq, was "beyond just a terrorist group", Mr Hagel said.

"They marry ideology, a sophistication of … military prowess," he added.

Airstrikes in Syria - where Mr Foley disappeared in November 2012 - have not been ruled out.

When asked about that possibility, Mr Hagel said Washington was "exploring all options".

James Foley in Libya in 2011

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, also did not discount attacks on IS fighters in Syria.

"This is an organisation that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated," he said at a briefing.

"To your question, can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organisation which resides in Syria? The answer is no.

"That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is essentially at this point a non-existent border."

A rough outline of the caliphate declared by IS militants

IS, which was formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, declared an Islamic state, or caliphate, covering large parts of the two countries earlier this year.

Michael Scheuer, a former CIA senior officer who ran operations against al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has told Sky News defeating IS will require an "enormous" number of Western troops on the ground which would mean an "enormous bloodbath".

He said: "It's a greatly bigger problem than we've seen before, it's better armed, it's better led and certainly more vicious than al Qaeda was in the initial years."

Militants vowed to attack US targets in another video clip

US President Barack Obama has insisted the scope of the US strikes will remain limited, while Prime Minister David Cameron has said Britain will not fight another war in Iraq.

A criminal investigation has now been opened into Mr Foley's murder, which was recorded by the militants in a video that emerged earlier this week.

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James Foley's Parents: 'We Know He's In Heaven'

The father of James Foley has said that he knows his son who was beheaded by militants "is in heaven", in an emotional tribute.

John Foley was speaking with his wife Diane and James's brother hours after a video emerged of an Islamic State (IS) militant murdering their son.

As he did so, US President Barack Obama said that the US would continue to do what was necessary to protect its people.

With his voice cracking up and standing next to his wife Diane at their home in Rochester, New Hampshire, John Foley said: "It's difficult to find solace at this point in time, but Jim is free. We know he's in God's hands and ... we know he's in heaven.

"We're so proud of him. We have to be happy for him. We need the courage and the prayers to continue without him, because he was an inspiration for us and for so many others.

James Foley was working as a journalist covering the war in Syria

"We miss his courage and his love and his determination. His laugh. His smile."

During the gruesome video of Mr Foley's death, Islamic State also threatened to kill another US journalist, Steven Sotloff, who they claim to be holding.

James Foley's younger brother Michael criticised the US government, saying he thought it could have done more to save Mr Foley.

He said, as a result, it needed to do more to free Mr Sotloff.

The propaganda video posted on social media sites by sources belonging to IS shows a masked man - speaking in English with an English accent - beheading the 40-year-old.

The killer says that Mr Foley was being beheaded because Barack Obama had ordered airstrikes against IS positions in northern Iraq.

The killer spoke with a British accent

Just before he was murdered, Mr Foley had the chance to make a statement, during which he said: "I wish I had more time, I wish I could have the hope of freedom and seeing my family once again, but that ship has sailed." 

Speaking from Martha's Harbour, Massachusetts, where he has been on holiday, Mr Obama said: "Today the American people will all say a prayer for those who loved Jim.

"Jim was taken from us in an act that shocks the conscience of the entire world.

"Jim Foley's life stands in stark contrast to his killers."

"No faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just god would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. (Islamic State) has no ideology of any value to human beings.

"The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people. When people harm Americans anywhere, we do what is necessary to see that justice is done."

US President Obama says the US will do whatever is necessary

US officials told the Associated Press that military planners are considering whether to send up to 300 more ground troops to Iraq, mainly to provide additional security around Baghdad.

US aircraft carried out 14 air strikes on Islamic State militant targets in Iraq in the past 24 hours, officials said on Wednesday. It brought the total number of air raids since August 8 to 84.

Republican Senator and former Presidential candidate John McCain said America should dramatically increase the number of airstrikes and some should extend into Syria as a result of Mr Foley's murder.

Marie Harf, the White House spokesperson, said that the US administration agreed with British Prime Minister David Cameron that " it is increasingly likely that it is a British citizen" who murdered James Foley.

She added that US officials were working closely with British official to identify his killer.

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James Foley: US In Failed Hostage Rescue Bid

The White House has said it sent special forces into Syria to rescue hostages including James Foley, but could not locate them.

News of the unsuccessful attempt came as it was revealed the journalist's family were told he would be killed a week before his beheading by an Islamic State (IS) militant.

The 40-year-old was murdered in a propaganda video issued by the Islamist group, which warned another captured American, Steven Sotloff, would also be killed unless the US called off airstrikes in Iraq.

President Barack Obama's Homeland Security adviser, Lisa Monaco, said in a statement that authorities had recently become increasing concerned over the plight of hostages in Syria.

"The President authorised action at this time because it was the national security team's assessment that these hostages were in danger with each passing day in ISIL (IS) custody," she said.

James Foley disappeared in Syria in November 2012. Pic: Nicole Tung

"The US Government had what we believed was sufficient intelligence, and when the opportunity presented itself, the President authorised the Department of Defense to move aggressively to recover our citizens.

"Unfortunately, that mission was ultimately not successful because the hostages were not present."

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the operation "involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL (IS)".

Meanwhile, Mr Foley's employers said they received an email last Wednesday hitting out at US airstrikes and saying he would be "executed".

Philip Balboni, President of the Global Post news website, said: "On Wednesday night last week the Foley family received an email from the kidnappers that was full of rage against the United States bombing and they stated that they would execute Jim.

David Cameron has returned from his holiday in the wake of the killing

"Obviously, we hoped and prayed that that would not be the case.

"We communicated as quickly as we could, with the captors; pleaded with them for mercy."

Mr Balboni said the Global Post spent millions on efforts to bring Mr Foley home, including the hiring of an international security firm.

The militant in the propaganda video said Mr Foley was being killed because of US airstrikes against fighters from Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS or ISIL.

David Cameron spoke on Wednesday night after breaking off his holiday in order to return to Downing Street to be briefed on the murder.

He said it was looking "increasingly likely" that the militant in the video, who had a southeastern English accent, was British.

White House spokeswoman Marie Harf confirmed that US officials were working with British counterparts to establish the killer's identity.

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Exclusive: US Recruits Iraq Security 'Advisers'

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor, and Pete Norman, Sky News Online

Barack Obama may have ruled out sending "boots on the ground" back to Iraq but in the face of a growing threat from the Islamic State (IS), the Pentagon appears to have hit upon a way to get them back in by the back door.

The US Army's Contracting Command has issued a tender notice for companies capable of deploying security assistance mentors and advisers in Iraq.

These individuals would be required for a 12-month contract, potentially extendable to a total of 36 months.

They are needed as consultants to the US "Office of Security Assistance in Iraq" and must be "cognisant of the goals of ... reducing tensions between Arabs and Kurds, and Sunnis and Shias".

Some 40,000 private security contractors formed a disparate mercenary army of mostly westerners during the American-led occupation of Iraq.

Private security guards may be set to return to Iraq. Pic: Pete Norman

Many had secret contracts to work with the Central Intelligence Agency and alongside US and British special forces to provide intelligence and guard forces.

Now it appears that former special forces operators and other highly skilled intelligence specialists are being recruited to return to Iraq.

Intelligence sources have told Sky News the only viable option to fight back against the spread of the IS is to restart the so-called Awakening programme which, by late 2008, had successfully mobilised Sunni tribesmen against al Qaeda.

The rump of al Qaeda fled to Syria where it became the core of what is now IS.

The new consultants would be required to conduct "force development", "training", "planning and operations" and "intelligence".

They would liaise with the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, its Counter Terrorism Service and other branches of government.

The "sources sought" document was published on August 11 by the US Army on a federal website with the intent to canvas private organisations to establish whether they were capable of supplying the services.

Once this is established, the scale and fee would then be set.

The success of the Awakening campaign involved training and fighting militant tribesmen to take on al Qaeda.

Many of their leaders have indicated they would be prepared to do the same again - but would turn against IS only once Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a Shia, steps down.

He has now indicated he is prepared to stand aside in favour of Haider al Abadi, a fellow Shia with a reputation for reaching out across the sectarian divide.

Private contractors would, inevitably, be drawn from the ranks of retired special operations troops and spies who were so integral to the Awakening campaign.

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IS Beheads US Journalist James Foley In Video

Islamic State militants have released a video that purportedly shows the beheading of a US journalist who went missing two years ago.

The footage appears to show a masked man - speaking in English with an English accent - killing James Foley, who was seized by armed men in Syria in November 2012.

In the five-minute propaganda video, posted on social media sites by Islamic State sources, the man says Mr Foley was being killed because Barack Obama had ordered airstrikes against IS positions in northern Iraq.

The group also claimed to be holding another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, who appears at the end of the video, and said his life depended on the US President's next move.

Mr Foley in Syria before he was captured. Pic: Nicole Tung

A statement issued by Mr Foley's mother, Diane Foley, said: "We have never been prouder of our son, Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people.

"We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world.

"We thank Jim for all the joy he gave us. He was an extraordinary son, brother, journalist and person. Please respect our privacy in the days ahead as we mourn and cherish Jim."

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the administration had seen the video but had not yet confirmed its authenticity.

She said that if it is verified by the intelligence community, the US would be "appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist".

John and Diane Foley, Mr Foley's parents, helped a public campaign

Mr Foley, 40, was an experienced correspondent who had covered the war in Libya before heading to Syria to follow the revolt against Bashar al Assad for the Global Post, AFP and other outlets.

Philip Balboni, GlobalPost chief executive and co-founder, said the firm had been informed that the FBI is evaluating the video to determine whether it was authentic.

"We ask for your prayers for Jim and his family," he said.

According to witnesses, Mr Foley was seized in the northern Syrian province of Idlib on November 22, 2012.

The car he was travelling in was stopped by four militants in a contested battle zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces were trying to control.

His family has not heard from him since, despite a public campaign for information.

Several senior US officials with direct knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press that IS very recently threatened to kill Mr Foley to avenge the American airstrikes over the last two weeks.

The strikes targeted militants advancing on Mount Sinjar, the Mosul Dam and Kurdish capital Irbil.

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Kiev And Moscow Agree On Ukraine Aid Convoy

Kiev and Moscow have reached agreement on the passage of a Russian aid convoy into eastern Ukraine, according to the Red Cross.

Ukraine's government had been concerned the convoy of about 280 white trucks could be a 'Trojan horse', allowing Russia to set up a permanent presence in rebel-held territory.

But Russia "guaranteed" the US that no military personnel were in the vehicles, which have been stuck near the border for the past few days.

Moscow says the trucks are carrying water, food and medicine for people displaced by fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Red Cross officials - who have been examining the contents of the lorries - said they need security guarantees from both sides before the convoy can start moving across the border.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said he spoke with his Russia counterpart Sergey Shoygo on Friday night and requested clarification on the convoy.

It came after Russia denied it had sent a separate armed convoy into Ukrainian territory that Kiev claims it partially destroyed.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said his forces had destroyed "much" of the Russian column, adding: "We won't tolerate any invasion."

Officials in Kiev said they tracked the vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers, from the border and then attacked with artillery.

Journalists from The Guardian and Daily Telegraph newspapers said they saw around 23 Russian military vehicles crossing the border near the town of Donetsk on Thursday night.

A woman, seen via a shrapnel hole, reacts after shelling in Donetsk

Moscow's Defence Ministry dismissed Kiev's claim that it had sent a convoy into Ukraine as "some kind of fantasy".

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin is due to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Berlin on Sunday to discuss the crisis.

Fighting has escalated in eastern Ukraine, with government troops steadily taking back rebel-held territory.

The city of Luhansk is surrounded by Ukrainian troops and is reportedly suffering from electrical outages and shortages of food and medicine.

In Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city, four people were killed by shelling on Saturday afternoon, the mayor's office said.

The UN says an estimated 2,086 people have been killed and nearly 5,000 wounded in the four-month conflict.

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US Launches Airstrikes To Help Retake Iraq Dam

'Corpses Everywhere' After Jihadist 'Massacre'

Updated: 12:54pm UK, Saturday 16 August 2014

Dead bodies were found "everywhere" when Yazidi fighters arrived at a village where jihadists have been accused of carrying out a massacre, witnesses have said.

Officials believe Islamic State (IS) fighters killed around 80 people, mostly Yazidis, after arriving in the northern Iraq village of Kocho and demanding they abandon their beliefs and convert to Islam.

The militants also kidnapped women from the village in Nineveh province and took them to prisons they control, according to a senior Kurdish official.

Yazidi fighter Mohsen Tawwal told AFP by telephone that he saw a large number of bodies in the village.

"We made it into a part of Kocho village, where residents were under siege, but we were too late," he said.

"There were corpses everywhere. We only managed to get two people out alive. The rest had all been killed."

A man from a neighbouring village, who had been told what happened, added: "The Islamic State had spent five days trying to persuade villagers to convert to Islam and ... a long lecture was delivered about the subject today."

"The men were gathered and shot dead.

"The women and girls were probably taken to Tal Afar because that is where the foreign fighters are."

Senior Iraqi official Hoshyar Zebari said: "We have information from multiple sources, in the region and through intelligence, that (on Friday) afternoon, a convoy of (IS) armed men entered this village. 

"They took their revenge on its inhabitants, who happened to be mostly Yazidis who did not flee their homes.

"They committed a massacre against the people. Around 80 of them have been killed."

Thousands of Yazidis - people from a minority sect with an ancient religion - have been forced to flee their homes by the IS advance.

The extremist group, previously called ISIS, has swept across a large part of northern and central Iraq, taking Mosul and threatening Baghdad and Kurdish capital Irbil.

On Saturday, airstrikes targeted the group around Mosul Dam. It was not immediately clear if they were carried out by the Iraqi air force of the US. 

The IS seized Iraq's largest dam on August 7.

Iraq's human rights minister has said that Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of the Yazidi community during their offensive in the north.

Some of the victims, including women and children, were buried alive, Mohammed Shia al Sudani said.

The United Nations Security Council on Friday blacklisted six Islamist militants and threatened sanctions against anyone who helped arm or supply them.

Five members of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which operates in Syria, and Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani were included on the British-drafted resolution, which also condemned all aspects of IS's activities and beliefs.

Earlier, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to arm Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq.

The meeting of foreign ministers from the 28 EU nations was called by EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton and came after several European countries, including France and Germany, said they were prepared to supply weapons to the Peshmerga forces.

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