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ByRyanLucas The Associated Press BEIRUT American war- planes and drones hit Is- lamic State group tanks, Humvees, checkpoints and bunkers in airstrikes Friday targeting the extremists in Syria and Iraq, as the U.S.- led coalition expanded to include Britain, Denmark and Belgium. The European countries committed to take part only in the Iraq part of the mil- itary campaign, leaving the operation in Syria to the United States and five Arab allies who began con- ducting airstrikes there on Tuesday. Still, the broaden- ing of the coalition provides a welcome boost for Presi- dent Barack Obama and the American-led campaign. The U.S.-led operation aims to roll back and ulti- mately crush the Islamic State group, which has carved out a proto-state stretching from Syria's northern border with Tur- key to the outskirts of Bagh- dad. The militants have employed brute force to achieve their goals, massa- cring captured Syrian and Iraqi troops, terrorizing mi- norities in both countries and beheading two Amer- ican journalists and a Brit- ish aid worker. While striking fear into its opponents, the Islamic State group's tactics have also helped galvanize the international community to move against the extremists. France has already joined the U.S.-led effort in Iraq, and is considering expand- ing its role to Syria as well. The Netherlands, too, has said it would take part in the bombing campaign in Iraq. Denmark, Belgium and Britain all signed on as well on Friday. Denmark said it would send seven F-16 fighter jets and 250 pi- lots and support staff, while Belgium will contribute six F-16s that are already en route to Jordan so they can go into action as early as Saturday. "No one should be duck- ing in this case," said Dan- ish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. "Every- one should contribute." British lawmakers also voted Friday to join the co- alition. London is expected to deploy Tornado fight- ers, which are in Cyprus — within striking distance of northern Iraq. "This is about psycho- pathic terrorists that are trying to kill us and we do have to realize that, whether we like it or not, they have already declared war on us," Prime Minister David Cameron told a tense House of Commons in a more than six-hour debate. "There isn't a 'walk on by' option. There isn't an option of just hop- ing this will go away." The European contingent will join a campaign has al- ready carried out hundreds of airstrikes, the latest of which hit Islamic State posi- tions in both Iraq and Syria late Thursday and Friday. The U.S. Central Com- mand said airstrikes out- side the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk destroyed three Islamic State Humvees, dis- abled two armed vehicles and damaged an armored truck. More strikes west of Baghdad and near the Syr- ian border knocked out a guard shack, armed vehicles, a bunker and a checkpoint. In Syria, the U.S. de- stroyed four tanks and damaged another outside the city of Deir el-Zour on the Euphrates River. Those strikes marked the second consecutive day that the United States and its Arab allies have taken aim at the militants near the border with Iraq. Co- alition planes pounded a dozen makeshift oil-pro- ducing facilities in the same area on Thursday, trying to cripple one of the militants' primary sources of cash — black market oil sales that the U.S. says produce up to $2 million a day. Syrian activists said the American-led air campaign also hit the Tanak oil field as well as the Qouriyeh oil- producing area in Deir el- Zour on Friday. It said air raids also targeted the head- quarters of the Islamic State group in the town of May- adeen southeast of Deir el- Zour city. The Britain-based Syr- ian Observatory of Human Rights said the strikes were believed to have been car- ried out by the coalition. Another activist collective, the Local Coordination Committees, also reported four strikes on Mayadeen that it said were conducted by the U.S. and its allies. In the village of Zagheer west of Deir el-Zour, a war- plane attacked a motorcy- cle Friday evening shortly after it left an Islamic State group compound, accord- ing to the Observatory. It said an Iraqi commander of the group was killed as well as another member who is from a Gulf state. The Observatory also re- ported another apparent co- alition air raid on Islamic State positions outside the city of Hassakeh in north- eastern Syria. Those strikes targeted an oil-production area, as well as vehicles the militants had brought in from Iraq and tried to bury to protect them, accord- ing to Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman. The U.S. did not have any information on strikes tar- geting oil facilities, but the military statement men- tions raids by American forces only and not those by other coalition partners. The Observatory reports that at least 13 civilians have died so far in coali- tion strikes. In Washington, the top U.S. military officer said the United States and its allies are taking every precaution to limit civilian casualties. "Of course you know you can't reduce it to zero," Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chair- man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon news conference. He said he has received no reports of civil- ian casualties so far. Dempsey said U.S. allies participating in the cam- paign against Islamic State group are doing just as well their American counter- parts in hitting their tar- gets precisely. He attrib- uted the success to two de- cades of training with other countries and acquiring ad- vanced surveillance and targeting equipment. In Syria, activists say the militants have cut back the number of gunmen man- ning checkpoints, appar- ently fearing more strikes, while there has also been an exodus of civilians from Is- lamic State strongholds. "Everywhere there are ISIS buildings, the people living around these build- ings are leaving. They are moving far from ISIS build- ings, either to other vil- lages or to other areas in the same cities," said Ab- durrahman, using the ac- ronym of an alternative name for the group. "This has happened in Raqqa, in Deir el-Zour and in many towns and villages." ISLAMIC STATE GROUP AirstrikeshittargetsinSyria, Iraq as US-led coalition grows MATTHEWBRUC‑THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A pair of U.S. Air Force F‑15E Strike Eagles flies over northern Iraq a er airstrikes in Syria. PAUL BEATY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Dennis McCormack of Rockaway, N.J., finds out that his flight to Newark, N.J., has been canceled at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Friday. By Jason Keyser The Associated Press CHICAGO A contract em- ployee suspected of setting a fire at a suburban Chi- cago air traffic control cen- ter brought two of the na- tion's busiest airports to a halt for hours Friday, send- ing delays and cancella- tions rippling through the air-travel network from coast to coast. Authorities quickly ruled out any ties to terrorism, but the ground stoppage at O'Hare and Midway air- ports immediately raised questions about whether the Federal Aviation Ad- ministration has adequate backupplanstokeep planes moving when a single facil- ity has to shut down. By midday, nearly 1,800 flights in and out of Chi- cago alone had been can- celed, and more cancel- lations were expected. A few flights began taking off and landing again af- ter a nearly five-hour gap. But the planes were mov- ing at a much-reduced pace, officials said, and no one could be sure when full service would resume. Investigators had no im- mediate information on a possible motive and em- phasized that the FAA con- tractor was authorized to be at the site. The early morning fire forced the evacuation of the control center in Au- rora, about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago. It was the second unex- pected shutdown of a Chi- cago-area air-traffic facil- ity since May. Emergency crews found the man suspected of set- ting the fire in the base- ment, where the blaze be- gan, with multiple self-in- flicted knife wounds as well as burns to his body, said Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the Bu- reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which was taking part in the investigation. He was taken to a hospital and was expected to survive. The man used gasoline as an accelerant, and there was fire damage to some wiring in the building, as well as water damage from the sprinkler system, Ahern said. Authorities were pre- paring to search the sus- pect's home in nearby Na- perville. No charges have been filed, and authorities refused to release his name. Another employee of the facility was treated at the scene for smoke inhala- tion. The flames were ex- tinguished by 7 a.m., ac- cording to Aurora spokes- man Dan Ferrelli. When the center was evacuated, management of the region's airspace was transferred to other facil- ities, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said. But hours after the or- deal began, the region's air traffic was still a mess. The Aurora facility — which had become a crime scene — remained shut down while investigators scoured the site. A control center in In- dianapolis called in staff on overtime to patch to- gether inbound and out- bound routes for the Chi- cago area, said Douglas Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association la- bor union. But the process was slow because there was no way for other Chi- cago-area controllers to send flight plans to com- puters in Indianapolis. Suspected arson snarls US air traffic DELAYS, CANCELLATIONS By Jesse J. Holland The Associated Press WASHINGTON Moments af- ter making fresh demands that Attorney General Eric Holder open federal inves- tigations into police shoot- ings of unarmed black men, a cluster of civil rights ac- tivists learned, courtesy of whispers and a shared e- tablet, that the nation's first black attorney general was stepping down. Civil rights leaders, liberal activists and black lawmak- ers are now left wondering what effect Holder's impend- ing departure will have on the high-profile efforts be- gun on his watch. "There's a lot for us to calculate," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was meetingwithblack lead- ers in Washington. Holder has been ap- plauded by civil rights and equal rights activists as the most effective attorney gen- eral ever for their causes. "Therehasbeennogreater ally in the fight for justice, civil rights, equal rights, and voting rights than At- torney General Holder," de- clared Myrlie Evers-Wil- liams, widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers and a former NAACP na- tional chairwoman. But the first black attor- ney general could be leav- ing several things undone as he transitions out: — Possible federal charges in the deaths of black men including Mi- chael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Trayvon Mar- tin in Sanford, Florida. — The November moni- toring of congressional and statewide elections that will take place after the Supreme Court threw out a major protection in the Voting Rights Act. — And projects he per- sonally promoted such as the reduction of racial pro- filing in federal investiga- tions, changes in how fed- eral prosecutors negoti- ate sentencing, changes in the death penalty system and efforts to reduce ten- sions between local police departments and minority communities. "At this critical time for America, we can't afford to lose momentum on civil rights," said Leslie Proll, di- rector of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Washing- ton Office For his part, Holder told the Congressional Black Caucus during its legis- lative conference on Fri- day that he plans to keep on pushing voting rights and civil rights protections while still in office. He has agreed to stay on until the Senate confirms his re- placement, and President Barack Obama has yet to name that person. "In the meantime, there remains a great deal to be done," said Holder, who got a standing ovation as he en- tered the room. "I have no intention of letting up or slowing down." Despite Holder hav- ing informed the White House around Labor Day of his impending departure, black lawmakers and civil rights activists in Washing- ton were shocked to find out about his resignation Thursday. ATTORNEY GENERAL Holder departure will bring rights questions CAROLYN KASTER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President Barack Obama, right, and the audience applaud as Attorney General Eric Holder looks out over the State Dining Room of the White House on Thursday. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thank you! www.tehamaestatesretirement.com SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2014 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 3 B