UK air attack on Islamic State: Syrians give reactions

France has already been bombing the jihadists' stronghold of Raqqa following deadly attacks in Paris claimed by the group.

The UK strikes focused on six targets in an oil field under IS control in eastern Syria, the BBC understands.

A number of Syrians have been giving their reaction to the British decision.

"Raqqa is being Slaughtered Silently" - citizen journalist group in the IS stronghold

The group said on Twitter that it opposed UK bombing raids.

"We are against the UK strikes on Raqqa. All the world is bombing Raqqa and the UK will not make any change in the situation. If the UK wants to help people then it should accept Syrian refugees and not close the border.

"Just bombing IS in Raqqa from the sky will not defeat IS, but it will make people suffer more. IS will use the UK strikes to recruit new people in the West and new fighters and maybe they will carry out terrorist attacks.

"In the end nobody will liberate Raqqa except the people of Raqqa."

"Humans can't survive there. Nothing works. That's why many people are trying to leave Raqqa," he told BBC Turkey correspondent Mark Lowen.

"Air strikes were not effective in reducing IS. It just destroyed some buildings and places with very few fighters. The places where strikes could have had most effect were not hit. Air strikes are not enough to defeat IS and push it out of the area. It needs local troops who know the area well, like the Free Syrian Army. IS fighters regroup in other parts.

"More air strikes could reduce fighter numbers. To defeat IS? No. You need ground troops."

This morning's newspapers in Damascus reiterate criticism Syrian officials have made for years about the West's engagement here.

"Britain didn't ask permission from Syria's government," declares the state news agency SANA. "Cameron told lies," it says.

Syrian officials insist Britain and its allies must follow Russia's example and coordinate their campaign with Syrian government forces. If they don't, they warn, they simply won't succeed.

Meanwhile, Syrian activists and opposition groups feel bitterly let down that the West did not give them this kind of military support to help remove President Bashar al-Assad.

But Syrians in the capital from all social backgrounds welcomed any kind of action against IS.

A spokesman for the FSA's southern front told Mark Lowen that the UK was focusing on the wrong enemy.

"The Assad regime is the cancer which ISIS (Islamic State, also known as Daesh) grow out of. So without erasing Assad from power - which means treating the cure, not just symptoms - that will not make a big difference.

"Daesh and Assad are two faces of one coin. You should start with Assad but we understand they're not going to hit Assad. With air strikes and partners on ground, that could finish IS.

"We're frustrated with the whole international community - not just the UK."

Robin Yassin-Kassab, a British-Syrian writer

"The real problem is Assad not IS, however horrific they are. IS is a symptom of a larger problem and in Syria that is the Assad regime and the scorched earth policy it uses against anyone who opposes it, creating a space that jihadists from all over the world can come and exploit.

"Now you have Iran, Russia, France and the UK all getting involved. To the people on the ground the distinction between them is not very clear. They see the whole world bombing them and not bombing Assad, who is responsible for most of the killing. So it's very easy for jihadists to say it's the Shia Muslims, the Russian Orthodox Christians and the Western Christians all ganging up and bombing us because we are Sunni Muslims.

"The most depressing thing is that (opposition leader) Jeremy Corbyn repeated in Parliament that all the Syrian opposition are Salafist fundamentalists. That's not what Syrian society is like. At least David Cameron knows there are 70,000 moderate fighters whose aims are national and not international."

(BBC)