Russia Launches New Strikes on Foes of Syria's Assad
Russian warplanes unleashed a new wave of strikes against opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad Thursday, as Moscow and Washington sought ways to avoid confrontation between their forces.
It was the second straight day of Russian raids in Syria, where Moscow has launched its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979.
Russia's defense ministry said its air force struck five Islamic State group targets Thursday.
"We have prevented IS fighters from reestablishing a command post in the Hama province that had been destroyed in our air strikes" on Wednesday, spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
The ministry said an IS training camp and command post in northwest Idlib province were also hit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected allegations that civilians had been killed in Russian raids, describing them as "information warfare."
The air strikes came as Russia presented a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council that would call for consent from Damascus for attacks against IS in Syria.
Washington had previously blocked a similar resolution.
The Syrian conflict, which began as protests against Assad's regime in 2011, has escalated into a multi-faceted war that has drawn thousands of jihadists from overseas.
Moscow, a key Assad ally, earlier said its raids destroyed a "terrorist" headquarters, a weapons warehouse, a command center and a car bomb factory.
But a Syrian security source said the strikes had targeted a powerful coalition of Islamist rebels, the Army of Conquest, which includes al-Qaida's Syria affiliate al-Nusra Front and which fiercely opposes IS.
- 'Target IS' says Hollande -
French President Francois Hollande said ahead of talks with Putin in Paris Friday that air strikes in Syria should target IS, not other groups.
He said it was essential to ensure that "the strikes, regardless of who is carrying them out, target Daesh (IS) and not other groups."
Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu said Thursday he felt "serious concern over the information that Russia's air strikes targeted opposition positions instead of Daesh."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has rejected the accusations, saying Moscow saw "eye to eye" with the U.S. on striking IS and al-Nusra.
U.S. Senator John McCain accused Russian warplanes of striking groups "funded and trained by our CIA," saying Moscow's real priority was "to prop up Assad."
A U.S.-backed rebel group, Suqur al-Jabal (Falcons of the Mountain), said Russian warplanes attacked its training camp in Idlib province.
The group has received training and equipment as part of a $500-million U.S. program to build an anti-IS force.
A U.S.-led coalition has carried out near-daily strikes on IS in Syria for more than a year, saying Thursday it had "not altered operations in Syria to accommodate new players on the battlefield."
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told reporters coalition planes had conducted sorties and air strikes in Syria over the past 24 hours.
After complaints by the U.S that Russia gave just an hour's notice of Wednesday's attacks, the two sides were set to hold military talks to avoid mishaps between planes from the U.S.-led coalition and Russia, a U.S. defense official said.
- 'Coordinating with Damascus' -
After weeks of Russian military build-up in Syria, Russian senators on Wednesday unanimously approved armed intervention.
It remains unclear how much of the opposition fighting Assad's army -- including the Western-backed opposition -- is considered by Moscow as a potential target.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to acknowledge that Russia was targeting not only IS, saying it operates according to a list apparently agreed with Damascus.
"These organizations are known," he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. "The targets are determined in coordination with the Syrian defense ministry."
A Russian foreign ministry official had said Moscow could broaden its campaign to Iraq at Baghdad's request, but Lavrov later told reporters at the U.N. that Moscow was "not planning to expand our air strikes to Iraq".
Russia's defense ministry said Moscow had sent more than 50 military aircraft as well as marines, paratroopers and special forces into Syria.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who met Lavrov at the United Nations on Wednesday, said U.S. and Russian officials were still engaged in talks "to guarantee safety and security and division of responsibility."
Russia and the West are in deep disagreement over Syria, with Western powers blaming Assad for starting what has become a brutal war with more than 240,000 people dead and millions displaced.
Moscow has portrayed Assad as the only force stopping the spread of IS, and argues that he must be part of the conflict's political solution.
"Life has shown that it is unrealistic to give ultimatums demanding that Assad leaves in a situation when the country is in such a crisis," Lavrov said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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