Russia today launched air strikes in Syria in its biggest Middle East intervention in decades, sending the four-year-old civil war into a volatile new phase.
Moscow's assertion that it had hit so-called Islamic State militants was immediately disputed by the United States and rebels on the ground.
The move also means that Washington and Moscow are running air strikes concurrently and in the same region, but without coordination.
The US State Department said a Russian diplomat in Baghdad notified the US of the intended air strikes an hour in advance and warned that American aircraft that have been pressing a daily bombing campaign against IS positions should avoid Syrian airspace.
Mr Kerry said the Russian warning was ignored and US air strikes continued today.
Mr Putin said he was striking against IS and helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, long Russia's closest ally in the region, in this aim.
But Washington is concerned that Moscow is more interested in propping up Mr Assad, who the US has long held should leave office, than in beating IS.
Mr Assad's opponents in the brutal civil war include rebel groups that oppose both him and IS, and that are supported by the US and other Western countries.
The Russian defence ministry said it carried out about 20 flights over Syria, hitting eight IS targets and destroying an IS command post and an operations centre in a mountainous area, Russian agencies reported.
However, Syrians living in rebel-held areas of Homs province said the Russian air force unleashed a whole new level of devastation on their towns.
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Jets flying at higher altitudes than the Syrian air force emitted no noise to alert the people below to raids that were reported to have killed at least 33.123,42 civilians, including children.....
rte.ie
1/10/15
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Russia, US clash at UN over parallel Syria air campaigns ...
ReplyDeleteRussia and the United States faced off at the United Nations on Wednesday over parallel air campaigns in Syria, with both sides claiming legitimacy for their actions but differing over the role of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia launched its first air strikes in Syria since the Middle Eastern country’s civil war began in 2011, giving only an hour’s notice to the United States, which has led a coalition of Western allies and regional states that has been flying missions there for a year.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Security Council that Moscow would liaise with the U.S.-led coalition, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry later said military-to-military talks could begin as early as Thursday......france24.com