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45 killed in Russian air strikes in Syria’s Latakia

“Among them were civilians but we do not have a precise number”, he added.

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The US has been bombing Islamic State targets in Syria since September 2014; the Russian air campaign began less than one month ago.

“People urgently need food and basic household and shelter items” especially as the weather gets colder, Huguenin said.

At least 250,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, with 7.6 million internally displaced and over four million having fled to nearby countries.

Recently, US and Russian aircraft have flown in close proximity over Syria, and there have been concerns about the safety of pilots given the risk of miscalculation in the tight airspace.

The MOU did not establish any military cooperation between the two in Syria; neither did it include intelligence sharing or any sharing of target information in Syria, said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook here at a briefing.

However, activists say the jihadist group has little or no presence in the coastal province, which is a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect.

More broadly, Washington has complained that instead of hitting Islamic State fighters, Russian airstrikes are mostly targeting rebel forces fighting the Syrian government.

According to the Director of the British based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, among the dead was a rebel commander and the families of the rebel fighters.

CNN, which first reported the incident Tuesday, also said a Russian plane had flown within 500 feet (150 meters) of a USA jet in another encounter.

He said the memorandum “doesn’t change the principled position of Russian Federation”.

Moderate and Islamist rebel groups took control of Jabal al-Akrad in 2012.

Syrian officials could not be reached for comment.

Turkey wants a transitional government in Syria without Bashar al-Assad, Turkey’s Justice and Development (AK) Party Deputy Chairman Omer Celik told reporters in Ankara on Thursday.

Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial hub, has been a key focus of the fighting. Since 2012, the city has been divided between government forces and rebels.

The Observatory said Tuesday that regime forces had seized five villages in the area since the offensive began.

But Syria’s Al-Watan daily, which is close to the regime, said the army had taken 16 villages and an area totaling a few 100 square kilometers (40 square miles).

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Meanwhile, the United Nations warned that tens of thousands have fled new offensives against the regime in Syria.

Russian air strikes in Syria reportedly kill 45 people, including rebel commander