Russia Defends Syria Airstrikes
Last updated on: October 01, 2015 7:12 AM
Russia has rejected charges that its airstrikes in Syria were aimed
at targets other than Islamic State militants, as it prepares for
military talks with the U.S. to avoid possible clashes in the war-torn
country.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in New York that such reports are unfounded rumors. Regarding reports that some of the strikes had hit civilians, Lavrov said he had no information.
He spoke after a Wednesday meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who said U.S. and Russian militaries will hold talks as soon as possible, maybe Thursday, to avoid encountering each other in Syria.
At the Pentagon Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Russian airstrikes in Syria hit areas that “probably” did not contain Islamic State.
Smoke
rises after airstrikes by military jets in Talbiseh, a city in western
Syria’s Homs province, where Russia launched airstrikes for the first
time, Sept. 30, 2015. The image was made from video provided by Homs
Media Center and authenticated by AP.
"It does appear [the strikes] were in areas where there were probably
not ISIL forces," Carter said, referring to an alternative acronym for
the Islamic State group.
An unnamed Pentagon source told VOA that the extremist group is concentrated in the cities of Raqqa and Aleppo and the eastern city of Deir al-Zour. In contrast, many fighters and other opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime are in Homs.
"By deduction, we can tell the strikes are not anti-ISIL," the source said.
Likewise, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters in New York there were "signs" that the Russian raids did not target the Islamic State group.
"As we understand, these weren’t zones that were controlled by Daesh [Islamic State]," Fabius said, using the Arabic acronym for the group. He called for the targets of the Russian raids to be verified.
'War of disinformation'
Russian officials insisted their warplanes were hitting at the same extremists targeted by the United States and contradicted American criticism that its military failed to coordinate the airstrikes, describing the allegations as a “war of disinformation.”
Alexander Orlov, the Russian ambassador to France, said Moscow's intervention came only after a year of airstrikes by the U.S. and its partners failed to dislodge Islamic State extremists, and predicted that Syria could be ready for “free elections” within a year. Russia's military said it carried out 20 airstrikes Wednesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its warplanes on Wednesday targeted and destroyed eight positions belonging to extremists from the IS group in what President Vladimir Putin called a pre-emptive strike against the militants.
The ministry gave no specific locations, but Orlov said the targets were installations for Islamic State and the Nusra Front, al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria – “two terrorist organizations recognized as such.” Orlov told France Info radio the planes were acting as air support for Syrian ground troops, and criticized the effectiveness of anti-IS oeprations to date.
“We see that this coalition has been operating in Syria for a year, 5,000 airstrikes have been carried out, and Islamic State is still there,” Orlov added.
Dangerous new dimension
With American and allied airstrikes daily, and now Russian warplanes in the Syrian airspace, the war is taking on a dangerous new dimension.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with senior government
officials at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia on
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015.
Orlov said Russian officials warned the Americans “via confidential
channels” of where they planned to strike. He also noted a coordination
center was being set up in Baghdad that would include Syrians, Iraqis,
Iranians and Russians – and any other country that wants to participate.
Khaled Khoja, head of the Syrian National Council opposition group, said at the U.N. that Russian airstrikes in four areas, including Talbiseh, killed 36 civilians, with five children among the dead.
The claim could not be independently verified.
Russia began carrying out airstrikes in Syria Wednesday, just hours after lawmakers gave President Vladimir Putin the permission to deploy Russian military forces there.
Russia’s decision to begin airstrikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime "is tantamount to pouring gasoline on the fire" of that country’s four-year civil war, said Defense Secretary Carter. Russia's heightened involvement in Syria "only risks escalating the civil war," he added.
This
image taken in Sept. 30, 2015 posted on the Twitter account of Syria
Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, a volunteer search and
rescue group, shows the aftermath of an airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria.
The United States said it would continue to lead coalition airstrikes
against Islamic State targets in Syria, ignoring Russia's request for
U.S. aircraft to avoid Syrian airspace as Russia began conducting
bombing attacks there Wednesday.
Short notice
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said a Russian official in Baghdad had given U.S. embassy personnel short notice earlier in the morning of the planned strikes in Syria against Islamic State targets.
"The U.S.-led coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned and in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy ISIL," Kirby said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. An unnamed Pentagon source said the coalition struck at the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday.
Carter earlier had directed the Pentagon staff to communicate with Russia about coalition activity in Syria, to avoid any mistaken encounter between coalition and Russian forces there, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Some material for this report came from AP.
end quote from:
http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-defends-airstrikes-in-syria/2986925.html
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in New York that such reports are unfounded rumors. Regarding reports that some of the strikes had hit civilians, Lavrov said he had no information.
He spoke after a Wednesday meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who said U.S. and Russian militaries will hold talks as soon as possible, maybe Thursday, to avoid encountering each other in Syria.
At the Pentagon Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Russian airstrikes in Syria hit areas that “probably” did not contain Islamic State.
An unnamed Pentagon source told VOA that the extremist group is concentrated in the cities of Raqqa and Aleppo and the eastern city of Deir al-Zour. In contrast, many fighters and other opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime are in Homs.
"By deduction, we can tell the strikes are not anti-ISIL," the source said.
Likewise, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters in New York there were "signs" that the Russian raids did not target the Islamic State group.
"As we understand, these weren’t zones that were controlled by Daesh [Islamic State]," Fabius said, using the Arabic acronym for the group. He called for the targets of the Russian raids to be verified.
Russian officials insisted their warplanes were hitting at the same extremists targeted by the United States and contradicted American criticism that its military failed to coordinate the airstrikes, describing the allegations as a “war of disinformation.”
Alexander Orlov, the Russian ambassador to France, said Moscow's intervention came only after a year of airstrikes by the U.S. and its partners failed to dislodge Islamic State extremists, and predicted that Syria could be ready for “free elections” within a year. Russia's military said it carried out 20 airstrikes Wednesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its warplanes on Wednesday targeted and destroyed eight positions belonging to extremists from the IS group in what President Vladimir Putin called a pre-emptive strike against the militants.
The ministry gave no specific locations, but Orlov said the targets were installations for Islamic State and the Nusra Front, al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria – “two terrorist organizations recognized as such.” Orlov told France Info radio the planes were acting as air support for Syrian ground troops, and criticized the effectiveness of anti-IS oeprations to date.
“We see that this coalition has been operating in Syria for a year, 5,000 airstrikes have been carried out, and Islamic State is still there,” Orlov added.
Dangerous new dimension
With American and allied airstrikes daily, and now Russian warplanes in the Syrian airspace, the war is taking on a dangerous new dimension.
Khaled Khoja, head of the Syrian National Council opposition group, said at the U.N. that Russian airstrikes in four areas, including Talbiseh, killed 36 civilians, with five children among the dead.
The claim could not be independently verified.
Russia began carrying out airstrikes in Syria Wednesday, just hours after lawmakers gave President Vladimir Putin the permission to deploy Russian military forces there.
Russia’s decision to begin airstrikes in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime "is tantamount to pouring gasoline on the fire" of that country’s four-year civil war, said Defense Secretary Carter. Russia's heightened involvement in Syria "only risks escalating the civil war," he added.
Short notice
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said a Russian official in Baghdad had given U.S. embassy personnel short notice earlier in the morning of the planned strikes in Syria against Islamic State targets.
"The U.S.-led coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned and in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy ISIL," Kirby said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. An unnamed Pentagon source said the coalition struck at the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday.
Carter earlier had directed the Pentagon staff to communicate with Russia about coalition activity in Syria, to avoid any mistaken encounter between coalition and Russian forces there, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Some material for this report came from AP.
end quote from:
http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-defends-airstrikes-in-syria/2986925.html
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