ARIRANG NEWS 16:00 U.S. launches air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria

ARIRANG NEWS 16:00 Hello and welcome to Arirang News. It′s Tuesday, September 23rd here in Korea. Live from Seoul, I′m Laah Hyun-kyung. Title: U.S. launches air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria We begin with the U.S. airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria. This development marks an escalation in the Washington-led efforts to counter what it has declared as a global terror threat. For more,... we go Live to Arirang′s Kim Hyun-bin at the News Center. Hyun-bin, what′s the latest? Well, Hyun-kyung. The Pentagon announced that the U.S. and its allies had started air strikes in Syria... in line with U.S. President Barack Obama′s pledge to degrade and destroy the Islamic State. The air strikes were mainly focused in and around the Syrian city of Raqqa, which is a stronghold for the IS militants. Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said fighter and bomber jets were used in the initial onslaught, including Tomahawk missiles to clear 20 IS targets. These include buildings that are believed to be used as command and control headquarters for the militant group,... as well as training and resupply centers. And a number of Arab nations were also involved in the air strikes. Right. They are being regarded as "partners" in the fight against the Islamic State and include Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain. Diplomatic sources say Qatar was also involved, but it is not clear whether they were engaged in the air strikes. Around two-thirds of the Islamic State militant group′s 30-thousand forces are based in Syria, while the rest are scattered throughout large parts of northern Iraq. For the last several weeks,... the U.S. has conducted surveillance flights over the region, collecting intelligence for use in these air strikes. According to the U.S. Central Command,... the United States has launched 190 air strikes in Iraq since August. These represent the first in Syria. Earlier today,... Hadi Bahra,... a leader of Syria′s main opposition group... called to initiate immediate U.S. air strikes to quote "avert catastrophe." He has now gotten his wish, but the extent of damage done to the IS militant group remains to be seen. Thank you, Hyun-bin. We′ll continue to monitor the situation and bring further updates as they come. Title: Korea, Canada sign FTA, establish strategic partnership And now onto President Park Geun-hye′s state trip to Canada. Seoul signed a free trade agreement with Ottawa on Monday, local time. But as our presidential office correspondent Choi You-sun reports,… that wasn′t the only deal sealed between the two nations. Nine years after launching trade negotiations, Korea and Canada signed their free trade agreement on Monday. "I hope the effects of the FTA will go beyond trade and investment to technological cooperation, people exchanges, and civilian economic cooperation, so that the bilateral economic cooperation can take a big step forward." With the FTA