Russia using warships to launch missile strikes on ‘IS’ targets

The developments came a day after NATO’s secretary general expressed alarm over how the Russian military had grown on several fronts in Syria, including boots on the ground.

Russian warplanes have been flying over Syrian territory since Wednesday, conducting airstrikes on what Moscow says are targets belonging to the Islamic State (IS) group in the country’s northern and central provinces.

Turkey and Russia are important trade partners and Turkey is strongly dependent on Russian gas imports.

The incident drew worldwide criticism, with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg calling it a violation that “does not look like an accident”.

The Pentagon says at least one USA military aircraft changed its route over Syria recently to avoid coming dangerously close to Russian warplanes.

The incursions of two Russian fighters in Turkish airspace on Saturday and Sunday has brought the Syria conflict right up to NATO’s borders, testing the alliance’s ability to deter a newly assertive Russia without seeking direct confrontation. Stoltenberg said this “spearhead” of about 13,000 troops could be deployed both to the east and to the south.

Syrian armed forces “have launched wide-ranging attacks to deal with the terrorist groups, and to liberate the areas which had suffered from the terrorist rule and crimes”, Lt. Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub was quoted as saying by state media.

Russian forces have struck 112 targets in war-torn Syria since last week launching a bombing campaign that Moscow says is targeting the IS group, Shoigu told Putin in the televised briefing.

He said only two out of 57 Russian strikes had hit the jihadist group.

The alliance has sought to expand into Hama from Idlib and seize high ground to target the neighbouring regime stronghold of Latakia province.

“… has to be an end to the fighting, there has to be a political solution, a transition,” he said. The two countries have conflicting positions on Syria – with Russian Federation backing Assad and Turkey insisting on his ouster – but have set their differences aside in the past so as not to harm economic ties.

But Russian officials deny ramping up military activity. “He’s forming a regional force of Syrians, Hezbollah, Iranians, and now Russian ground forces, with Russian air power, and they’re going to go after the people that threaten” President Bashar al-Assad, he added.

The intergovernmental military alliance of 28 nations has stationed anti-missile Patriot batteries from Germany in Turkey, but they are due to be removed later this year.

A spokesman for the ruling AK Party said Turkey would take further violations of its air space as a threat, but viewed a Russian offer to meet and discuss the issue positively.

Ships from the Caspian Sea fleet launched 26 cruise missile strikes against 11 targets on Wednesday, Moscow said.

The ground operation in Hama targets rebels from a range from groups, including moderate and Islamist opposition fighters as well as Al Nusra.