United States diplomats: Russian strikes hit Syrian rebels, civilians

It is one of several assaults carried out by pro-government ground forces since Russian jets began carrying out air strikes on September 30 in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in Orwellian fashion that the troops “are not being deployed with a combat mission â ¦ The mission of our men and women on the ground has not changed”.

Russian state media played down western governments’ decisions to suspend flights to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where the doomed Russian plane took off, focusing instead on news that the investigation is continuing and hasn’t reached a conclusion yet.

Naqdi further denied that Tehran has deployed troops in Syria, saying Iran only provides Damascus with military advisers.

By embedding Special Forces with local Sunni anti-ISIS groups, Heras said the administration hopes to build up a multi-ethnic democratic Syrian coalition and facilitate coordination with Kurdish fighters to bring the fight to ISIS.

The air campaign has cost the country, which is in the midst of a biting recession, $2 to $4 million per day, Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland added while testifying with Patterson.

Although United States troops are meant to remain stationed in the makeshift group headquarters of the Syrian rebels, Russian airstrikes may pose a potential threat to United States troops. And that would require a very significant investment of ground forces of a few sort.

The military has recaptured the Tank Battalion and many villages south of Aleppo, with help from Russian-Syrian joint airstrikes. They are there “to work with the units that are there fighting…”

Obama’s special operations forces may be an effort to bolster these goals for Syria’s future. Such raids will continue, the official said, against high-value Islamic State targets. Another dozen more F-15 fighter bombers also are on their way.

After describing how the president’s withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in 2011 left a vacuum that the Islamic State (IS) was able to fill, Moulton said that the jihadist group is a major threat to American national security.

Fear of terrorism among Russians has increased since Putin ordered bombing operations in Syria, with 65 percent anxious that they or their loved ones may become victims of an attack, up from 58 percent at the end of 2014, according to an October 17-18 poll of 1,600 people by the state-run VTsIOM company, published October 23. The Obama administration for the next 15 months must decide just how slippery it may be.