Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and President Vladimir Putin announced in a joint television appearance on Wednesday that four Russian warships in the Caspian Sea launched 26 rockets at Islamic State in Syria which hit their targets.
The Russian air campaign started in Syria with the announced objective of targeting the Isis installations in the troubled country. However the targets of the initial air strikes were strongholds of other rebel groups that are opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's ally.
The actions by Russia have been criticized by the western countries, the Arab states and Turkey, who are waging their own bombing campaign against Islamic State as they are against president Assad of Syria and want him to leave power. They alleged that Moscow is using Islamic State as a pretext to target Assad's other foes.
On the other hand Russia is of the view that the Assad government should be the centerpiece of international efforts to combat extremism.
While ordering Shoigu to continue cooperation with the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq on Syria, Russina President Putin said it was too early to talk about the results of Russia's operations in Syria.
Around attacks on insurgent positions in Syria backed by Russian air strikes were carried out by the Syrian army and allied militia on Wednesday.
Putin claimed on Wednesday that the French President France Hollande had voiced the idea of uniting Assad's forces with the so-called Free Syrian Army to fight Isis. However French sources denied this statement from Putin.
"The president spoke of the necessary presence of the Syrian opposition around the negotiating table. The rest is not a French idea," a source close to Hollande told Reuturs.
Russia had summoned foreign military attaches in Moscow and suggested they supply Russia with any intelligence on Islamic State positions, Shoigu had said on Tuesday.
"Today we are expecting a reply from our colleagues and we hope they will tell us about those targets which they have," he had said.
The Russian Defense minister had said that Russia was ready to agree a document with the United States to coordinate actions in Syria.
Moscow said its warships fired 26 missiles at them from the Caspian Sea, a sign of its new military reach after Russia and Syria carried out what appeared to be the first major coordinated assaults on Syrian insurgents on Wednesday.
Towns close to the main north-south highway that runs through major cities in the mainly government-held west of Syria were hit by the combined assault said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group which tracks the conflict via a network of sources within the country.
At least four insurgent positions were hit by ground attacks by Syrian government forces and their militia allies using heavy surface-to-surface missile bombardments and there were heavy clashes said that head of the Observatory, Rami Abdulrahman.
Since civil war grew out of anti-government protests in 2011, Isis militants have seized much of Syria but the areas targeted in Wednesday's combined assault are held by other rebels.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
The Russian air campaign started in Syria with the announced objective of targeting the Isis installations in the troubled country. However the targets of the initial air strikes were strongholds of other rebel groups that are opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's ally.
The actions by Russia have been criticized by the western countries, the Arab states and Turkey, who are waging their own bombing campaign against Islamic State as they are against president Assad of Syria and want him to leave power. They alleged that Moscow is using Islamic State as a pretext to target Assad's other foes.
On the other hand Russia is of the view that the Assad government should be the centerpiece of international efforts to combat extremism.
While ordering Shoigu to continue cooperation with the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq on Syria, Russina President Putin said it was too early to talk about the results of Russia's operations in Syria.
Around attacks on insurgent positions in Syria backed by Russian air strikes were carried out by the Syrian army and allied militia on Wednesday.
Putin claimed on Wednesday that the French President France Hollande had voiced the idea of uniting Assad's forces with the so-called Free Syrian Army to fight Isis. However French sources denied this statement from Putin.
"The president spoke of the necessary presence of the Syrian opposition around the negotiating table. The rest is not a French idea," a source close to Hollande told Reuturs.
Russia had summoned foreign military attaches in Moscow and suggested they supply Russia with any intelligence on Islamic State positions, Shoigu had said on Tuesday.
"Today we are expecting a reply from our colleagues and we hope they will tell us about those targets which they have," he had said.
The Russian Defense minister had said that Russia was ready to agree a document with the United States to coordinate actions in Syria.
Moscow said its warships fired 26 missiles at them from the Caspian Sea, a sign of its new military reach after Russia and Syria carried out what appeared to be the first major coordinated assaults on Syrian insurgents on Wednesday.
Towns close to the main north-south highway that runs through major cities in the mainly government-held west of Syria were hit by the combined assault said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group which tracks the conflict via a network of sources within the country.
At least four insurgent positions were hit by ground attacks by Syrian government forces and their militia allies using heavy surface-to-surface missile bombardments and there were heavy clashes said that head of the Observatory, Rami Abdulrahman.
Since civil war grew out of anti-government protests in 2011, Isis militants have seized much of Syria but the areas targeted in Wednesday's combined assault are held by other rebels.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
