Russian Jets, Syrian Troops, Launch Attack in Ghab Plain

“Four warships launched 26 Calibre cruise missiles against 11 targets”, Shoigu said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The strikes came as the Syrian troops backed by Russian airpower launched their first major ground offensive since Moscow began its intervention in the conflict last Wednesday.

Syrian activists said government troops pushed from areas they control in the rural part of Latakia, into rebel-held areas in the province that is the heartland of Assad’s family and Alawite minority group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least 40 Russian air strikes in Hama and neighbouring Idlib province, which is controlled by the powerful Army of Conquest alliance that includes Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.

The Russian government says its Syria deployment came as the result of a formal request from Assad, who himself laid out the problems facing the Syrian military in stark terms in July, saying it faced a manpower problem.

The missiles flew over Iran and Iraq before slamming their targets in Syria.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday the U.S.-led coalition has not agreed to cooperate with Russian Federation in the fight against the Islamic State and no collaboration is possible as long as Moscow continues to strike other targets. The US side has proposed a number of safety measures, including using specific global radio frequencies for distress calls by military pilots flying in Syrian airspace.

The West, which has launched more than 7,000 airstrikes against the Islamic State in the past year, has bristled at Moscow’s military buildup in Syria.

Three senior officials in the region say Soleimani’s July trip was preceded by high-level Russian-Iranian contacts that produced political agreement on the need to pump in new support for Assad as his losses accelerated.

More than a week after it began launching airstrikes in Syria, Russian Federation seems to be reasserting itself as a superpower.

Davis said this highlights the Pentagon’s interest in talking further to Russian officials about ways to avoid accidents and potential unintended conflict in the skies over Syria.

The USA meanwhile has had to navigate around regional alliances and enmities in trying to roll back IS’s spread across large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Earlier, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that Iraqi would welcome Russian air strikes against the IS, but on condition of a permission by the Iraqi government.

The Russian airstrikes appear to have emboldened Syrian troops after suffering a string of setbacks in northwestern Syria over the past few months.

Brzezinski, the national security adviser for former President Jimmy Carter, advised President Barack Obama to attempt to disarm the Russians if they keep attacking the CIA-trained militants in Syria.

There is no comparable “deconflicting” going on between the Turkish and Russian militaries at this point, and if Turkey moves to establish a buffer zone in northern Syria, the Russians will inevitably oppose it.

Two low-flying helicopters were seen in Morek but escaped militant fire, the Observatory said.

“I’m convinced that not only airborne should be used there, but also infantry, because the faster we finish off ISIS, the more peacefully we’ll live across the territory of global community”, he said.