Islamic State militants captured a string of villages near Aleppo on Friday in a lightning attack that brought them closer to the prized city in northern Syria, despite a major increase in Russian airstrikes that Moscow insists are targeting the extremists.
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USA and Russian warplanes are now flying missions over the same country for the first time since World War Two risking incidents between the two air forces and their fast jets.
The U.S.is limiting its discussions with Russia to basic, technical talks about efforts to ensure that flights over Syria are conducted safely and, “That’s it”, he has said, prompting protests from Russian leaders who want broader talks. Syria’s rebels are mostly Sunni.
Abdurrahman said he was killed on the edge of the Kweiras military airbase, which the Islamic State group has besieged for months.
A no-fly zone would require the USA military to be ready to engage in air battles with the Syrian government, something it is not prepared to do. No reasonable person can believe this, especially since the totality of the evidence presented globally on these strikes thus far suggests massive Russian effectiveness in hitting both of these [Takfiri] groups and their assets. Tehran has provided his government with military and political backing for years and has kept up its support since Syria’s civil war began in 2011.
He said the Russians have not carried out attacks against IS in Aleppo, which is split between government forces and various insurgent groups.
As many as four landed instead in Iran, according to three USA officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Russian Federation fired a total of 26 of the long-range missiles at Syrian targets.
Alongside the Russian air-and-sea campaign regional officials have told Reuters that hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria since late September to support the Syrian army and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.
Officials have also said the new plan also scales back the number of rebels the US expects to train from the initial 5,400 per year to a much smaller total.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg addresses a news conference during a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defence ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday.
Turkey said on Friday it was concerned about a possible fresh wave of Syrian migrants arriving at its border as a result of Russian air strikes.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Moscow’s military action in Syria endangered trade ties with his country, saying Ankara could look elsewhere for gas supplies and cancel the construction of its first nuclear power plant, which is being built by Russian Federation.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, says the USA should consider establishing a no-fly zone that allows rebels a safe place from which to operate, and shooting down Syrian helicopters that are bombing civilians.
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However the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which monitors the fighting said there had been no significant advances by government forces backed by allied militia in areas where ground offensives were launched this week. “We will continue to build the case for intervention in the new parliament”.
