The statement, which was issued late Sunday, said the flight suspension to the cities of Irbil and Sulaimaniyah is to “protect travellers” as cruise missiles and bombers cross northern Iraq from the Caspian Sea to Syria.
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More than 1300 people, around two-thirds of them combatants, have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria since Moscow’s aerial campaign began on September 30, a monitor says.
Flights operating out of Beirut airport will continue unaffected despite a notice of planned Russian naval drills in the Mediterranean, airport official Ibrahim Abu Alioun said Friday.
It added that the missiles, fired by its fleet in the Caspian Sea, “dealt a massive blow”, with “all targets hit”.
The Russian defence ministry said last week it was “hunting” oil transporters to cut ISIS financing and claimed that in the past five days about 1,000 fuel trucks had been destroyed.
While doubts remain about whether the USA would work with Russia, there have been some tentative signs of a shift in Washington, with President Obama praising Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a “constructive partner” in diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian war.
“But recently, after the participation of the Russian air forces in fighting terrorism, the situation has improved in a very good way, and now I can say that the army is making advancement in almost every front, although front is not very precisely defined, it’s not wrong, but let’s say in many different directions and areas on the Syrian ground”.
The footage comes as Russia joins France in stepping up air strikes on ISIS targets in Syria following the terrorist attacks on Paris and on the Russian plane over the Sinai which claimed hundreds of lives.
In four days of heavy bombing against IS, the ministry said, more than 100 cruise missiles were launched and more than 800 “terrorist” targets destroyed in Syria.
“We have been informed by Baghdad to halt the flights because of Russian jets attacking Daesh (ISIS) in Syria”.
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If he backs up his word with actions, Putin’s pledge could prove to be a turning point in the military campaign against ISIS in Syria.
