Seven countries concerned over Russia military buildup in Syria

Several rebel groups around Talbiseh operate under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army, and a few have received military support from Western and Gulf Arab states that oppose President Bashar al-Assad.

“These military actions constitute a further escalation and will only fuel more extremism and radicalization”, the statement said.

Washington and its allies oppose both Islamic State and Assad, blaming him for attacks on civilians that have radicalized the opposition and insisting that he has no place in a post-war settlement.

Tensions between the United States and Russia are escalating over Russian airstrikes that apparently are serving to strengthen Assad by targeting rebels – perhaps including a few aligned with the United States – rather than hitting ISIL fighters it promised to attack.

On Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 12 IS members were killed when Russian warplanes hit Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital in northern Syria, and the nearby Tabqa military airport.

According to the ministry, Russian planes hit objects near Jisr al-Shughur and Maarrat Al-Nu’man near the city of Idlib as well as destroying “an ISIS-hardened command center near Raqqah”.

Obama said Friday that he was willing to work with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on moving Syria away from civil war, but only if that plan includes removing Assad from power.

Pushkov said more than 2,500 air strikes by the US-led coalition in Syria had failed to inflict significant damage on IS, but Russia’s campaign would be more intensive.

“We’re analysing where the strikes are going every morning”, he told the paper.

Russian Federation has carried out “unguided” bombing in Syria that has led to the deaths of civilians, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said.

Moscow began aerial raids against insurgents in Syria, including the self-proclaimed Islamic State or ISIL, on Wednesday (September 30).

He also said the United States would “continue to support” moderate rebels in Syria because they were the groups that “can help pick up the pieces and stitch together a cohesive, coherent country” in the aftermath of Assad’s rule.

“Iran and Assad make up Mr. Putin’s coalition”, he said.

He added: “The goal is terrorism and we are not supporting anyone against their own people”.

“It does appear that they were in areas where there probably were not [Daesh] forces, and that is precisely one of the problems with this whole approach”, Carter said during an afternoon press conference at the Pentagon.