(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria yesterday, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979.
Russian warplanes carried out strikes in several Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Vladimir Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Islamic State militants in Syria.
But the United States said that Russian jets had targeted the Syrian opposition and not the IS group.
"We have not seen any strikes against ISIL," a US defence official said, referring to the IS group by an alternative name. "What we have seen is strikes against the Syrian opposition."
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter accused Russia of inflaming the Syrian conflict and said Moscow's military involvement was "doomed to fail".
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Carter said Moscow's entry into the bloody conflict was akin to "pouring gasoline on the fire".
"The Russian approach here is doomed to fail," Carter said. "I hope that they come over to a point of view where they try to pursue their objectives in a different way that makes more sense."
France also raised doubts over whether the Russian raids were aimed at IS amid Western concerns that Moscow may be seeking to buttress Syria's embattled leader Bashar al-Assad.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters at the United Nations that there "were indications that the Russian strikes did not target" IS militants.
The Russian defence ministry had said earlier it launched surgical strikes against IS militants.
Putin, who earlier yesterday got parliamentary permission to use force abroad, warned Moscow would be hunting down IS militants before they target Russia.
Putin also said Assad should be ready for compromise with the opposition.
"We are counting on his... readiness for compromise for the sake of his country and his people," Putin said.
He pledged that Russia would not get sucked into a protracted military operation in Syria and called on other countries to join an intelligence task force Moscow is setting up with Iran, Iraq and Syria.
Russia will also present a UN draft resolution to the Security Council on countering terrorism to build up the fight against IS, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Addressing the General Assembly for the first time in a decade, Putin on Monday proposed creating a UN-backed coalition to fight the militants.
Putin's proposal is seen as a direct challenge to Obama who has vowed to crush IS.
Washington has expressed concern that Moscow's support for its Soviet-era ally may complicate operations of the US-led coalition against the extremists.
Kerry told Lavrov earlier yesterday that Moscow's move "is not helpful to that effort", a senior US official said.
Kerry said Washington would not oppose Russian strikes if they are "genuinely" intended to defeat the IS group.
"Terrorist positions" were targeted by the Russians in Hama and Homs provinces, and they aided government air strikes in Latakia province, the regime's stronghold, a Syrian security source said.
Putin is seeking to muscle his way back onto the world stage after months of Western isolation following Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and support for a separatist insurgency in the east of the ex-Soviet country.
The Russian parliament had approved Putin's request to use force abroad after Assad asked Russia for military support.
Putin's chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said the operation would be limited in duration and ruled out ground operations by Russian troops.
Putin had also sought permission from parliament to deploy military forces in Ukraine ahead of Russia's annexation of Crimea last year.
Washington and its allies blame Assad for the mayhem in Syria, where four years of bloodshed have killed more than 240,000 people.
It says the Syrian leader must go if IS is to be defeated.
Russia argues however that the West should support Assad in his fight against the militants.
France said it had launched a probe into Assad's regime for alleged crimes against humanity, saying it was forced to act in the face of "systematic cruelty".
France, which is part of the US-led coalition, carried out its own first air strikes against extremist positions in Syria on Sunday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the bombs killed at least 30 militants.
The Pentagon says Russia has in recent weeks sent troops, warplanes and other military hardware to Syria.
The Russian defence ministry said fighter jets carried out 20 flights yesterday, striking "eight Islamic State targets" including a command post held by the group.
"The targets, notably a command centre of the terrorists, were completely destroyed," the ministry said in a statement.
Defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, quoted by Russian news agencies, added: "All the strikes took place after air reccies following information provided by the Syrian government."
The ministry also published a video of the air strikes which appeared to show three targets being hit. It said "munitions and weapons depots and military equipment" were also destroyed.
Russia's powerful Orthodox Church voiced support for Moscow's decision to carry out air strikes in Syria, calling it a "holy battle".
But many accused the Kremlin of a short-sighted approach.
Alexander Konovalov, head of the Strategic Analysis Institute, said Russia was guided by a desire to end its diplomatic isolation and may not fully realise the long-term consequences of a military involvement in the Middle East.
"We were going to Afghanistan for six months and stayed there for 10 years," he said, referring to a conflict that killed over 14,000 Soviet troops between 1979 and 1989.
Sixty-nine percent of Russians are against Moscow's deployment of troops in Syria, with just 14% in favour, according to a recent poll by the Levada Centre.
Yesterday's news set social networks alight, with many commentators predicting dire consequences for Russians.
"Hide your sons," one Russian, Zaira Abdullaeva, wrote on Facebook.
Reports on targetstroubling: Nato chief
Reuters/Brussels
Nato said yesterday it was concerned that Russia's air strikes on Syria may have devastated rebel-held areas of the country and may not have targeted Islamic State positions.
Russia launched air strikes in Syria on Wednesday in the Kremlin's biggest Middle East intervention in decades, but Moscow's assertion that it had hit IS militants was disputed by the United States and Western-backed rebels on the ground.
"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, using an acronym for Islamic State.
To "deconflict", in military parlance, is to ensure that, in this case, Russian aircraft do not accidentally clash in any way with Western warplanes.
Stoltenberg said Russia had informed the Western alliance that Moscow was providing military assistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But he called on Russia to seek a diplomatic end to the Syrian civil war.
"I urge Russia to play a constructive and co-operative role in the fight against ISIL and to strive for a negotiated political solution to the conflict. To support Assad will not help," Stoltenberg said.
The head of Syria's Western-backed political opposition said yesterday Russia only wants to keep Assad in power and has no intention of fighting IS militants.
Khaled Khoja, who became president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces in January, told Reuters in an interview that Russian air strikes yesterday had hit four districts in the Homs area, killing 36 civilians, but no rebel fighters.
"Russia is intervening not to fight ISIL, but to prolong the life of Assad and support the continuous killing on a daily basis of civilians," Khoja said, adding that the areas targeted were where opposition groups had defeated Islamic State a year ago.
"It is obvious the Russians didn't come to Syria to fight ISIL, they are coming to support the regime. They know they are supporting a killer."
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.