From the Caspian Sea, rocket ships of the Russian Caspian Flotilla on Friday dealt a massive blow by launching 18 cruise missiles complex Caliber-NK 7 toward terrorist targets in the Syrian provinces of Raqqa, Aleppo and Idlib.
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Experts are suggesting the escalation of attacks is Russia’s promised retaliation for the downing of a Russian airliner last month in the Sinai Peninsula, which killed 224 civilians.
France has also joined in the air strikes, attacking the IS stronghold of Raqqa this week.
In a separate statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that its head Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry had a phone talk and discussed the need for joint efforts to combat IS in Syria and the need for talks between Damascus and opposition.
An investigation by British newspaper The Financial Times last month estimated the jihadists reap some US$1.5 million (RM6.414 million) a day from oil, based on the price of US$45 a barrel.
Russian Federation says its intervention is aimed at helping the Syrian government defeat IS, but local activists and USA officials say the strikes have also targeted Western-backed rebels fighting to overthrow Assad. “All the targets were hit”, said Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in an update given Friday on Russian military operations in Syria.
Russian Federation has blasted hundreds of ISIS targets in just four days as their bombing onslaught against the jihadis continues.
“That portion of the video was very likely taken over Iranian airspace”, Zilberman told the Washington Free Beacon, pointing to the portion of the video showing Iranian fighter jets escorting the Russian bombers. “For our people! For Paris!”
Lebanon said Friday it was preparing to re-route flights from Beirut airport after Russian Federation requested they avoid an area over the eastern Mediterranean because of three days of military manoeuvres.
Assad said the Russian airstrikes are more effective than those of the U.S.-led coalition because Moscow is coordinating with his government, saying “you can not fight terrorism with airstrikes alone”.
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French President Francois Hollande is expected to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow on Thursday to discuss counter-terror cooperation.
