DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – British airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State group are illegal and doomed to fail, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in remarks published Sunday.
Assad said in an interview with Britain’s Sunday Times that IS cannot be defeated with airstrikes alone unless there is coordination with forces on the ground. His comments were carried by Syrian state news agency SANA on Sunday.
British warplanes began launching airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, hours after Parliament voted to authorize air attacks against IS targets there.
Assad has said the only airstrikes that have worked against IS are those carried out by Russia, which is cooperating with Syrian government forces. Syrian troops have captured areas from IS since Moscow began its air campaign on Sept. 30.
Assad mocked British Prime Minister David Cameron’s claims that there are 70,000 moderate Syrian rebels on the ground.