Putin discusses with National Security Council situation in Syria

Defense officials from the United States and Russian Federation held a 90-minute video conference call on Saturday to discuss safe flight operations over Syria, according to the Pentagon, which is concerned that dueling bombing campaigns could lead to accidental clashes without the proper precautions. They also hit numerous Islamic State targets.

The Pentagon has released a statement calling the discussions “professional”, and saying the talks “focused narrowly on the implementation of specific safety procedures”.

In the past 24 hours, 55 IS targets in Syria were destroyed during 64 sorties carried out by Russian aircraft, said the ministry.

The Observatory also said Syrian government forces backed by militia had captured the village of Atshan from insurgent fighters in Hama province after Russian airstrikes in surrounding areas.

He said North Caucasus-based Islamist groups “can probably manage one or two spectacular attacks in the cities of “mainland” Russian Federation”, but that staging a whole series is probably beyond their capability.

Images of Russia projecting force so far beyond its borders while showcasing its military and technological prowess were, at least for now while everything seemed to be going to plan, giving Russians “a warm and fuzzy feeling”, said Greene.

As rebels groups in Hama tried to fend off the government advance, their comrades in Aleppo province were locked in battle with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, which has made gains in the region.

His death prompted an outpouring of grief from Iran’s leaders, who have been steadily sending high-ranking military figures to Syria, reproted The New York Times.

The focus, it said, was command and communication centres, ammunition depots and training camps of Islamic State militants in Hama, the neighbouring provinces of al-Raqqa and Aleppa, and Damascus.

“Russia’s efforts to counter the moderate Syrian opposition only make it harder for members of the moderate Syrian opposition to step forward and participate in a political transition that even Russian Federation acknowledges will be necessary to solve the problem inside of Syria”, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said.

There is disagreement among Russia’s Islamists about whether they should target civilians, and in any case their capacity to stage attacks has waned in the past few years, said Simon Saradzhyan, a fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center.

Two ISIS commanders were part of the number killed by Russia’s most recent air strikes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes Saturday bombed a headquarters of the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham rebel group in Saraqeb, in Idlib province.

Meanwhile, in spite of Putin’s brash and bullying tactics (tactics evidently much admired by American hardliners), it is not in America’s interests to get into a proxy war with Russian Federation in Syria. The other groups being attacked have fought against the Islamic State and prevented them from getting close to Aleppo in the past.

Blind-sided by Russia’s sudden escalation in Syria, Western powers must abandon hopes of toppling the regime and instead make do with steering Moscow away from actions that deepen the conflict, analysts say.