The news came as the Russian Defense Ministry released a video footage, showing the cruise missile strikes that were launched from the Caspian Sea overnight against the IS positions in Syria.
Advertisement
Syrian troops and militia backed by Russian warplanes mounted what appeared to be their first major coordinated assault on Syrian insurgents on Wednesday and Moscow said its warships fired a barrage of missiles at them from the Caspian Sea, a sign of its new military reach.
Moscow has mainly targeted central and northwestern Syria, strategic regions that are the gateway to President Bashar Assad’s strongholds in Damascus, and along the Mediterranean coast.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group with wide contacts inside Syria, said Russian fighter jets also bombed targets in the province of Idlib, most of which is held by a coalition of rebels known as Jaysh al-Fateh, which includes the al-Qaeda wing in Syria.
The USA wanted make its intentions very clear in the wake of the Russian remarks, said a senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to discuss the situation publicly.
“We are not prepared to cooperate in a strategy which as we explained is flawed, tragically flawed on Russia’s part,” Carter said during a trip to Rome, renewing USA accusations that Russia’s strikes were not focused on Islamic State militants.
Read Thursday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
Shoigu said the Russian air force has attacked a total of 112 targets, destroying 19 command posts, 12 ammunition depots, 71 armored vehicles as well as factories and workshops producing various explosives, including devices used in auto bombs since Russia started its anti-terrorist airstrikes in Syria on September 30.
Meanwhile, the Russian Navy had also begun participating in the offensive.
Putin said Russian strikes would “be synchronised with the actions of the Syrian army on the ground” to support the regime’s offensive operations.
He says USA aircraft are still flying attack and other missions daily over Syria.
Andrei Kartapolov of the Russian General Staff told Russian news agencies the strikes were planned so that the cruise missiles would fly “over unpopulated areas”. Rebels have controlled areas on the highway since 2012.
He said only two out of 57 Russian strikes had hit the jihadist group. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on Monday denounced Russian Federation for “irresponsible behaviour” for allowing its warplanes to cross into Turkey.
Russian Federation says the airstrikes it began last week are directed against the Islamic State group, as well as al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliates.
Earlier, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Turkey had proposed a meeting between Turkish and Russian military officials to be held in Ankara on avoiding future Russian infringements of Turkey’s airspace.
Russia’s entry into the crowded and sometimes uncoordinated air wars in Syria is making the US increasingly nervous, reflecting concern at the Pentagon and in Europe about the risk of accidents or unintended conflict.
Advertisement
The U.S.-led coalition has been routinely conducting airstrikes on Islamic State militants in Syria.
