(VOVworld) – The US delivered a letter to the UN in which Washington said that the reason why the US and Arab allies had launched airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria was because Damascus couldn’t and wouldn’t combat the IS.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks at a news conference at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 16, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

In the letter to the UN Secretary-General, Samantha Power, the US Ambassador to the UN, said that the airstrikes were to eliminate IS threats to the US and its allies and were in full conformity with the UN Charter. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the airstrikes had seriously violated international peace and security, adding that any legal and military activity against IS militants in Syria must be in line with the UN Charter and international law. The UN Counter-Terrorism Committee has passed a resolution blacklisting jihadists and extremist groups in Middle-East including IS leaders. On Tuesday the committee placed 10 terrorists, including one IS leader, under special suspicion.