The U.S.is overhauling its approach to fighting the Islamic State in Syria, abandoning a failed Pentagon effort to build a new ground force of moderate rebels and instead partnering with established rebel groups, officials said Friday.
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Russian Federation has dispatched troops to Ukraine and is sending jet bombers to change the course of the war in Syria, but Preident Obama says Vladimir Putin hasn’t taken over America’s leadership role in the world.
“THE regime managed to take control of Tel Asked which is located at the outskirts of Hama and near the southern outskirts of the province of Idlib”, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman told dpa.
The response comes on the heels of a series of Russian aircraft incidents that raised concerns about the potential for mishaps, as the U.S.-led coalition continues to launch daily airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria.
Later, U.S. defence officials said progress had been made during talks with their Russian counterparts on avoiding accidents over Syria.
Critics of Russia’s intervention have argued that strengthening the government will only make compromise more hard, and on Sunday the main Western-backed opposition group said the strikes would undermine any efforts to reach a settlement.
Syrian state television said in a newsflash that attacks carried out by government forces in the area had killed and wounded a number of “terrorists”, a term it uses to describe all insurgents in Syria.
USA and Russian officials ran discussions on 1 October on air safety, but the United States had whined they had heard nothing since then.
Hama province has been a key target for Russian air strikes that began on September 30, along with parts of the neighboring provinces of Latakia and Idlib.
The U.S. has indications that 4 Russian cruise missiles crashed in Iran somewhat than Syria, suggesting there have been malfunctions, Defense Secretary Ash Carter confirmed Friday.
It reported additional strikes in the north of coastal Latakia province, a regime stronghold, and in northwest Hama province, in the centre of the country.
The Russians “know their targets, and they have a sophisticated capacity to understand the battlefield situation”, said Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., who serves on the House Intelligence Committee and was careful not to confirm a classified program.
Russian Federation says its strikes are mainly aimed at the Islamic State group and other “terrorists”, but the ground-and-air offensive is being waged in areas controlled by mainstream rebels as well as the Nusra Front.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday its planes had flown 64 sorties, striking 63 targets and destroying 53 fortified positions in the last 24 hours.
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Hassan Hossain al-Haj, the top commander with the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group was killed on Saturday during battles in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.
