Cuba joins its Cold War allies to save Assad’s rule

“There will be more deliveries but only if they can demonstrate that they have used it in an effective way against ISIL”, the official said, using an alternate acronym for IS.

“Sukhoi Su-24M bombers delivered pinpoint strikes against terrorist targets near the city of Aleppo”. “Russia is now a military power that could overwhelm any of its neighbours, if they were isolated from Western support”, wrote Mr Gressel, a former officer of the Austrian military.

“The operation will continue until it reaches its goal of securing northern Homs and severing contacts between militants in Hama and militants in Homs”, a military source told AFP.

“Our armed forces, backed by aerial strikes and ground artillery, began a major assault on the headquarters of the terrorists in the towns of Talbisseh and Teir Maaleh on the north and north-eastern outskirts of Homs”, Syrian television quoted an unnamed military official as saying.

The London-based group also said the Russian air force, which has been striking rebel positions in Syria since late September, are stationed in the new part of the airport. He added that the aim of the government is to open the highway between the cities of Homs and Hama.

Three administration officials told me that since the Russian bombing began, the Islamic State has expanded its territory in and around Syria’s biggest city, Aleppo, taking about eight villages from other opposition groups.

The offensive, which began before dawn, expands on over a week of ground attacks launched with Russian air support in areas of western Syria that are crucial to Assad’s survival and held by rebel groups.

Iran has deployed hundreds of troops to back a Syrian ground offensive near the city of Aleppo, reports say.

Speaking to Tasnim in Damascus on Thursday, Chirman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Iran endorses Russia’s presence in Syria, noting that Tehran and Moscow enjoy very good relations.

Russian defense analyst Alexander Golts, a columnist for the Moscow Times, says that Russia can sustain its operation if it sticks to a limited role in the war.

Reiterating the urgency of anti-terrorism fight, Lavrov called on all countries to give up all kinds of political and geopolitical theories and establish a “broad front” against terrorists on the basis of worldwide laws.

The U.S. military is poised to boost its supply runs to rebels fighting Islamic State jihadists in northern Syria, a USA official said Thursday, days after an initial air drop of ammunition.

“I believe this is an unconstructive position”, Putin said. Rami Abdurrahman, U.K.-based SOHR leader, admitted his organization tracks the war through a network of activists and reported, “It looks like they [Syria, Russian Federation and Israel] are seeking to regain control of the road linking Damascus to Homs and then Aleppo”.

On a regional level, Russian Federation and Iran fear that the fall of Assad would lead to a resurgence in Salafi jihadism in several other countries, partly driven by the movement of foreign jihadists now in Syria to new theatres of battle or to their home countries.