That targeted an Islamic State oil production facility near al Hawl in Hasaka province in Syria’s northeast, the Central Command said. There was no independent confirmation of the death toll.
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The U.S. Embassy in Syria also questioned Russia’s targets. In previous updates Russian Federation has reported hitting 10 targets daily.
A general for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has been killed by ISIS in Syria, the guards said in a Friday statement.
But in Syria, in part thanks to backing from Russian Federation and Iran, president Bashar Al Assad remained in power. “Yes they are participating”. The Islamic State group has strongholds in Raqqa and Aleppo, while Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate, the Nusra Front, has a strong presence in Idlib.
It was not clear whether Hamedani’s killing was related to that IS offensive.
“We see an escalation of Russian military activity in Syria; [NATO defense] ministers agreed Russia’s military escalation in Syria raises serious concerns,” he said.
The bombardment appeared to be severe in a few places.
An image grab from a video released by the Russian Defense Ministry shows a Russian warship launching a cruise missile in the Caspian Sea, October 7, 2015.
Hamedani was reportedly overseeing the Quds Force, a special forces unit fighting rebels in Syria that has been declared a terrorist organization by the US. It then “swiftly considered” the USA proposals to coordinate.
US officials said they believed four Russian cruise missiles bound for Syria had crashed en route in Iran.
U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter said, however, on Friday in London that the United States had indications that Russian cruise missiles did malfunction.
In a post on Facebook, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that they make all their missile strikes public in near real time.
Russian efforts “will be synchronised with the actions of the Syrian army on the ground and the actions of our air force will effectively support the offensive operation of the Syrian army”, Putin said at a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
By midday, rebels from the US-backed Free Syrian Army claimed to have shot down at least one helicopter near the village of Kafr Nabouda in northern Hama. “Also a number of heavy regime vehicles have been destroyed in the Ghab region”.
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.
Gen. Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, went to Moscow in August with the message that Russian airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria were imperative, said the two senior officials, who were later briefed on the meeting. Hamedani was a veteran of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and was made deputy chief commander in 2005.
He said the commander was on a “temporary” advisory mission to Syria. The base is located around 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of Aleppo city. Kweires has been besieged by IS fighters.
Syria’s conflict, which began as an uprising against Assad in March 2011 but descended into a full-blown civil war after a fierce government crackdown, has so far killed 250,000 people, according to United Nations figures.
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Neighbouring Turkey has been angered by violations of its air space by Russian warplanes and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation said it was prepared to send troops to Turkey to defend its ally.
