U.S.-led forces launch air strikes to stop Islamic State reaching east Syria

U.S.-led warplanes conducted air strikes on Wednesday to block a convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families from reaching territory the group holds in eastern Syria, a coalition spokesman said.

The militants had left the Lebanese border the day before under a truce deal with Lebanese Hezbollah and the Syrian army.

The U.S. coalition strikes took place in eastern Syria, spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon said, but did not specify exactly where.

“We did crater the road and destroyed a small bridge to prevent this convoy from moving further east,” he told Reuters by phone.

”We’re not bound by these agreements,“ he said, apparently referring to the ceasefire deal. ”They’re clearly fighters and they’re moving to another location to fight yet again.

“In accordance with the law of armed conflict … we will strike them if we are able to do so,” he said, adding that direct strikes on the convoy would only take place if the militants could be separated from civilians.

Under the truce deal, the IS fighters had surrendered their enclave straddling the Lebanese-Syrian border and departed on Monday for eastern Syria under the deal.

The Lebanese army fought in the offensive to push Islamic State out of the area, after a separate Hezbollah operation resulted in the evacuation of Islamist Nusra Front militants nearby.