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A Drone Shot Down in Turkey

The drone crashed about two miles inside Turkish territory, said Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu.

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Turkey earlier this month complained about violation of its airspace by Russian warplanes.

“All the Russian planes in Syria have returned to the Hmeimim air base after completing their tasks”, defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation said that Turkey was investigating where the drone came from.

“I don’t really understand how the US can criticize Russia’s actions in Syria if they refuse to have direct dialogue”.

Scores of Russians took to the streets in capital Moscow on Saturday to protest the government’s intervention in Syria.

Earlier this month Turkey accused Russian jets – which have recently joined the air battle against Syrian rebel group – of entering its airspace. Turkey announced that any aircraft entering its airspace from Syria would be considered a threat after Syrian ground fire brought down a Turkish F-4 Phantom II fighter jet in 2012.

The cruise missile attack was part of an expanding Russian military campaign in Syria that has deepened the divide between Moscow and Washington over how to approach the Syrian civil war and the presence there of the self-styled Islamic State fighters.

The offensives on multiple fronts appear to be aimed at stretching rebel lines and keeping the insurgents off balance.

Russian Federation and the U.S., both conducting airstrikes in the country, have held a high-level phone discussion on the current situation. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network that follows the war, put the number at 57.

The Russian military has rejected claims of civilian casualties, saying its planes haven’t targeted populated areas. “Whether or not Russian Federation is going to return there [to patrol the border] is a matter that will be resolved through bilateral agreements”. Hundreds of terrorists and dozens of command posts, depots and other Daesh infrastructure have been destroyed so far.

State TV said troops killed several militants in the village of Teir Maalah near the city of Homs, Syria’s third largest.

A few of Russia’s air strikes have hit groups which are not affiliated to Islamic State but are trying to unseat Assad, and are backed by the United States and its allies.

US President Barack Obama on Thursday said American troops would remain in Afghanistan past 2016, retreating from a major campaign pledge as he admitted Afghan forces were not ready to stand alone against the resurgent Taliban.

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Russian jets have flown 669 sorties since September 30, including 394 this week, said Kartapolov, the Russian general.

ISIS retreating in Syria, missile system destroyed, 33 targets hit – Russian