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US forces, backed by Arab allies, have launched their first airstrikes against militant targets inside Syria, reportedly killing both members of the self-declared Islamic State and those of another Al Qaeda-linked group.聽

The airstrikes, which involved jet fighters, drones, bombers, and cruise missiles, struck multiple targets in Syria early Tuesday. According to US Central Command (Centcom), the attacks involved support or participation from Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Reported targets included the IS stronghold of Raqqa, in northeast Syria, as well as training camps and checkpoints in at least four Syrian provinces.

Vox reports that airstrikes began about 2:30 am Tuesday morning, according to a Twitter user who live-tweeted the start of the bombing, just before the Pentagon's confirmation of the campaign's start.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group, said聽at least 20 IS militants were killed in the strikes, as well as 30 fighters for Jabat al-Nusra, Al Qaeda's official arm in Syria and a rival of IS. At least eight civilians were also killed, the Observatory says.

One activist, known as Abu Khalil, told the Los Angeles Times that the strikes in Raqqa were focused on the provincial government offices, which serves as IS's headquarters, and also struck former government military bases and a security building in the city. The activist said that IS fled the headquarters after the attack.

"These attacks will be answered," an IS fighter in Syria told Reuters via Skype.

The US had informed the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the strikes would be taking place, according to Syria's government.聽"The foreign minister received a letter from his American counterpart via the Iraqi foreign minister, in which he informed him that the United States and some of its allies would target [Islamic State] in Syria.... That was hours before the raids started," it said, according to Reuters.聽

As well as targeting Islamic State, Centcom said airstrikes were launched聽to "disrupt imminent attack planning against the United States and Western interests" by "seasoned al Qaeda veterans."聽Though Reuters reports that Centcom did not identify the group, other media outlets write that the target was the Khorasan group, a cadre of Al Qaeda veterans that poses "a more direct and imminent threat to the United States" than IS, according to US officials.聽

According to the Associated Press:

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that US intelligence officials were tracking Khorasan聽and that it worked closely with Jabat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda affiliate. Al-Qaeda's Pakistan-based leadership is at odds with IS, whose leaders refused to follow its orders and see Jabat al-Nusra as a rival rather than a partner in the Sunni extremist movement in Syria.聽