Anytime
- The attacks stoke fears of a possible Syrian ground offensive backed by Russian air power. ... Russian and Syrian forces since Russia officially ... back at former ...
Syrian forces begin ground offensive backed by Russia air and sea power
Russian warships opened fire on targets in Syria launching cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea. This video was released by the Russia's defense ministry. (Russian Defense Ministry/YouTube)BEIRUT — Russian missiles fired from Caspian Sea warships traveled more than 900 miles to strike targets in Syria on Wednesday as Syrian government forces opened a ground offensive into areas that include rebel factions, officials said.
The bombardment marked the first naval salvos in Russia’s week-old military intervention and another sharp escalation of Moscow’s firepower in Syria’s multi-faction civil war.
A map from Russia’s Defense Ministry showed the path of the cruise missiles crossing Iran and Iraq — which would apparently require coordination from both nations and draw them indirectly into the Russian military intervention as gateways for attacks.
Like Moscow, Iran is a key backer of Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad. Iraq’s leadership has close ties with Iran, but also depends on support from the United States and Western allies.
Such a route bypasses NATO-member Turkey, where previous violations of Turkish airspace by Russian warplanes brought stern warnings from the Western military alliance.
In Moscow, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said four Russian warships carried out 26 missile strikes against 11 targets, but gave no other details.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a television meeting with Shoigu, said the missiles were fired from “the water of the Caspian Sea from 1,500 kilometers away.”
Putin added that the strikes “destroyed all the planned targets,” which he attributed to “the good preparation and the enterprises of the military-industrial complex and the good training of the personnel.”
The comments came after a wave of Russian sea and air attacks that appeared launched in coordination with Syrian forces seeking to reclaim territory after a string of defeats before the Russian military aid.
The Syrian push represents the first major ground advance since Moscow began airstrikes last week in support of Assad.
It also reinforced claims by Assad opponents and Western leaders that the initial aim of the Russian attacks was to hammer rebel groups — including some aided by the CIA — rather than strike chiefly Islamic State militants as the Kremlin insists.
The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that its main aim is to drive back the Islamic State in Syria. But the United States and allies say the Russian attacks have concentrated on areas that include strongholds of Western-backed rebel units and others.
A Syrian official, cited by the Associated Press, said the new ground operations are concentrated in the western province of Hama and northwestern province of Idlib.
Earlier, Syrian activists said Russian airstrikes hit rebel sites in both areas in apparent preparation for ground troops.
Wednesday’s airstrikes were carried out by Russian fighter jets and attack helicopters, activists said. There were no immediate reports of casualties, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syrian activists posted videos of the apparent strikes on YouTube. Scenes posted by the Revolutionary Command Council, a coalition of rebel groups, showed explosions and plumes of smoke in what the group said was a village in northern Hama. Rebels also claimed to have destroyed several Syrian regime tanks.
Russia has staged a massive military build-up in pro-regime areas of Syria in recent weeks. The United States, too, is launching air raids on Islamic State targets in parts of the country.
On Tuesday, U.S. and Russian officials seek to resume talks on how to coordinate in the skies over Syria. Turkey, a NATO member that shares a border with Syria, has already accused Russia of violating its airspace.
In Rome, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter did not respond directly when asked by reporters about the Russian military’s apparent support for the Syrian government’s ground offensive.
But the Pentagon chief for the first time ruled out any cooperation with Moscow in the fight against Islamic State, saying that Russia’s strategy was clearly just to support Assad and his government.
“We believe Russia has the wrong strategy. They continue to hit targets that are not ISIL. This is a fundamental mistake,” Carter said, using one of the acronyms for the Islamic State.
In the past, the Obama administration has publicly held out hope — however faint — that Moscow might cooperate in the military campaign against the Islamic State.
In his most hard-line comments to date about Russia, Carter rejected the possibility of teaming up with the Russians in that regard. He said the Pentagon still wanted to talk with Moscow about finding ways to manage the crowded airspace above Syria and avoid any hostile or inadvertent encounters. “That’s it,” he said flatly.
“We are not prepared to cooperate on strategy, which as we explained is flawed — tragically flawed — on Russia’s part,” Carter said during a joint news conference with Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti. “We continue to have a fundamental strategic disagreement.”
Carter also cast doubt on Russia’s offer to resume talks with the Pentagon about finding ways to ensure that the two countries’ warplanes do not become tangled in Syrian airspace. Although the Russian Defense Ministry said it has extended a request to hold those discussions, Carter said the U.S. government was “still awaiting a formal response.”
Roth reported from Moscow. Craig Whitlock in Rome, Hussam Alrefaie in Beirut and Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.
Read more:
This is Russia’s airpower in Syria
Russia’s move into Syria upends U.S. plans
Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Erin Cunningham is an Egypt-based correspondent for The Post. She previously covered conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan for the Christian Science Monitor, GlobalPost and The National.
Andrew Roth is a reporter in The Post's Moscow bureau. He previously reported on Russia and the former Soviet Union for The New York Times.end quote from:
