Syrian FM says U.S.-led air strikes failed to weaken Islamic State

PanARMENIAN.Net - Two months of U.S.-led air strikes have failed to weaken Islamic State (IS) militants, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem has said, according to BBC News.

Moualem told Lebanese TV the only way to tackle IS was to force Turkey to tighten border controls and stop foreign fighters crossing into Syria. He also said Turkey's plan for a no-fly zone over northern Syria would a de facto partition of Syria.

IS controls large swathes of both Syria and neighboring Iraq.

"All the indications say that (IS) today, after two months of coalition air strikes, is not weaker," Moulame told al-Mayadeen TV on Friday, Nov 28.

"If the (UN) Security Council and Washington do not force Turkey to control its borders then all of this action will not eliminate IS," the minister added.

Turkey has a 900km (560 miles) border with Syria.

Ankara has repeatedly denied claims that it backing militant Islamist groups - inadvertently or otherwise - to help Syrian rebels oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The U.S. and its allies have continued to hit IS targets in Syria and Iraq, but opposition groups backed by Washington in northern Syria have been losing ground to both IS and Syrian government forces.