Nations come together to condemn Russian airstrikes

In a joint statement with the USA, Britain, France, Germany and Gulf Arab allies, Turkey said Russia’s actions constituted a “further escalation” of the conflict and would only fuel more extremism.

“Even before the first Russian aircraft was airborne media reports appeared about civilian casualties and that they target not ISIS but so-called “moderate opposition forces” which fight against Syrian government“, the statement said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks as he heads a meeting of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Alexadrovsky Hall in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, October 1, 2015.

Russian news agencies cited a defense ministry official as saying that Russia’s air force had made more than 20 flights in Syria in the past 24 hours, hitting nine “IS” objects.

Russian Federation insists it is bombing Islamic State jihadists and other groups, but Western nations are highly sceptical and believe it is trying to shore up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow’s long-time ally.

“We think that is self-defeating, it will get them into a quagmire, it will be used as a further recruitment tool for foreign fighters”, Obama said, adding that United States will work with the worldwide community and its coalition to relieve the humanitarian pressure on refugees.

In an interview with the Sun newspaper, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the vast majority of Russian air strikes were not aimed at the militant group at all.

Carter said the Russians should not be supporting the Assad government and their military moves are “doomed to fail”.

Russia’s defence ministry in Moscow also said strikes were carried out on Aleppo, Idlib and Hama.

“The residents are very afraid, especially if the Russians are going to operate like regime planes by targeting civilians”, said activist Abu Mohammad from Raqqa.

Russia’s military intervention in Syria is making the situation worse and helping to support the “butcher” president Bashar Assad, David Cameron has claimed.

Konashenkov said equipment and weapons storage facilities were destroyed in a strike near Jisr al-Shughour and an ammunition depot was destroyed in Maaret al-Numan. 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.