In the very early hours of 23 September, Gulf Arab nations joined the United States in a series of bombing raids on jihadist targets in Syria. The raids were intended as much to show regional accord as to inflict damage on the so-called Islamic State (ISIL or ISIS). Fighter planes from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain took part, along with Jordan, while Qatar played a “supporting role”, understood to have involved its Mirage jets conducting damage assessments after the event.