Syrian troops launch offensive in central Homs province

The Syrian government and opposition activists say troops backed by Russian airstrikes are pressing ahead with an assault against rebels in central and northern Syria.

Gains by Islamic State north of Aleppo would threaten the supply lines of rival rebels inside the city, which is divided between insurgents and government forces.

In northern Syria, meanwhile, the Observatory said IS had seized territory in Aleppo province from rebels, blocking a key route between Aleppo city and Turkey.

Russian Defense Military Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement that Russia was bombing ISIS targets in Syria’s Aleppo province and “detected emissions from an unidentified flying object”, according to wire reports.

The official could not confirm whether Cuba’s top general is in Syria, or if Cuban forces are manning Russian tanks provided to Assad by Russia.

Underlining Iran’s central role in support of Assad, whose territorial control of Syria is now estimated at a quarter or less, a team of Iranian lawmakers arrived in Damascus on Wednesday on an official visit.

The US official described Cuban’s involved in Syria as similar to the “Cuba-Angola arrangement” – a reference to Cuban troops operating on behalf of the Soviets in several central African countries in the 1970’s.

He added that Russian Federation stands for the creation of “as big a coalition to fight the extremists and terrorists as possible and is working with major regional and global partners” like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan and Israel.

But Carter said in his speech that “we’ve seen increasingly unprofessional behavior from Russian forces”, including violating Turkish airspace, shooting “cruise missiles from a ship in the Caspian Sea without warning” and coming “within just a few miles of one of our unmanned aerial vehicles”.

The Obama administration has not yet responded to Russia’s attacks on U.S.-supported rebels.

“They took advantage of the vacuum”, said Lt. Colonel Ahmed Saoud, commander of 13th Division, a rebel group that is part of the Free Syrian Army.

But Russian jets have supported a campaign of ground attacks by Syrian troops and their allies over the last week in areas of western Syria that are crucial to the survival of President Bashar al-Assad’s and held by rebel groups other than Islamic State.

Russian Federation says it has asked Washington to discuss coordination of military efforts, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday the United States had declined to send a high-level military delegation to Moscow for discussions.

He said the Russian “tsunami wave” has given allies such as Iran the cover to operate more freely in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said around 42 people were killed in air strikes and fighting in Homs province.

These US-backed rebels have caused serious damage to the Assad regime’s forces through their use of anti-tank missiles.

“I think the president was fairly definitive in the news conference that he did 10 or 12 days ago in which he made clear that the conflict in Syria would not turn into a proxy war between the United States and Russian Federation”, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.