Russia says it has carried out air strikes on positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in Syria, but the US, NATO and the Syrian opposition have expressed concern that the bombardment instead targeted Western-backed rebels.
President Vladimir Putin called Wednesday’s operation a pre-emptive strike against ISIL, and the Russian defence ministry said its warplanes targeted and destroyed eight positions belonging to the group.
The move is sharply escalating Moscow’s role in the conflict but also raising questions about whether its intent is fighting ISIL or protecting Russia’s longtime ally, President Bashar al-Assad.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia and the US will begin military talks “as soon as possible, perhaps even as soon as tomorrow” to de-escalate the situation, after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov late Wednesday in New York.
The US, which is leading a coalition carrying out air strikes on ISIL in Syria and Iraq, agree with Russia on the need to fight ISIL but not about what to do with Assad.
‘Doomed to fail’
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the Russians appeared to have targeted areas that did not include ISIL fighters.
Lavrov dismissed charges that strikes targeted positions of the Syrian opposition.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, he said that the Russian Air Forces are cooperating with the Syrian pro-government military to target “exclusively” ISIL targets.
“Rumours that the targets of these strikes were not IS positions were groundless,” he stressed, adding that the Russian defence ministry has clearly stated on its website the targets and objectives of its air strikes in Syria.
Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the Russian Air Force hit “ISIL dens” around the towns of Talbiseh, Rastan and Salamiyah north of the central city of Homs.
The Syrian opposition National Coalition also denounced the Russian air strikes.
“All the targets in today’s Russian air raid over northern Homs were civilians,” National Coalition president Khaled Khoja wrote on Twitter.
Khoja said 36 civilians had been killed in areas held by neither the Syrian wing of al-Qaeda, the Nusra Front, nor ISIL.
NATO concern
NATO said it was concerned that Russia’s air strikes on Syria may not have targeted ISIL positions.
“I’m concerned about the reports saying that the Russian air strikes were not targeted against ISIL,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a visit to the United States.
“I’m especially concerned because there has been no real effort by the Russian side to deconflict the Russian air strikes in Syria with the ongoing US-led coalition fighting ISIL,” he said.
To “deconflict”, in military parlance, is to ensure that, in this case, Russian aircraft do not accidentally clash in any way with Western warplanes.
According to a statement from Assad’s office, the Syrian leader had asked Putin for the support.(Aljazeera)
Link: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/russia-air-strikes-syria-151001004914807.html
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