Iraq suspends flights to north due to Russian air campaign

Russian Federation is coordinating its air strikes with Damascus, unlike the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, which Assad and his government criticise as ineffectual.

Iraqi authorities asked two worldwide airports in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, to halt all flights for 48 hours from Monday morning, according to the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw.

He said the Russian military air fleet in Syria was reinforced by 8 Su-34 bombers and a unit of SU-27SM3 jet fighters. He said this deprived IS of $1.5 million in daily income from oil sales.

The strike came after Russian television showed a man scrawling “For our people!” and “For Paris!” in black pen on bombs minutes before a warplane was set to take off from the country’s air base in Syria.

“There are fears for the aircraft and passengers due to Russian missiles”, said Talar Faeq, director general of Erbil airport.

Russian Federation said it fired cruise missiles for a fourth day against IS targets.

The Russian navy is also firing cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea towards targets in Raqqa, Idlib and Aleppo provinces – their second naval bombardment since September.

The Russian military said the latest strikes had destroyed 80 tanker trucks near the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, as well as a large oil storage tank and a oil refinery south of the city. Speaking on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 22, 2015, the president said the current Syrian leadership will not help in stopping the civil war and the global fight against the Islamic State.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Shoigu says the strikes also inflicted significant casualties, including more than 600 militants killed in just one strike in the province of Deir el Zour. If he backs up his word with actions, Putin’s pledge could prove to be a turning point in the military campaign against ISIS in Syria.

Russian politicians have stated the need for the West and the Kremlin to put aside past transgressions and join together against ISIS terrorists in Syria, according to Reuters.