Iraq suspends northern flights due to Russia’s Syria strikes

Representational image | A still image taken from video footage, released by Russias Defence Ministry on November 20, 2015, shows Russian Tupolev TU-22 long-range strategic bombers conducting an airstrike at an unknown location in Syria.

Putin hailed the military’s performance, but added that “there is still a lot of work to do…to rid Syria of militants and terrorists and protect Russian Federation from possible terror attacks”.

More than 1300 people, around two-thirds of them combatants, have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria since Moscow’s aerial campaign began on September 30, a monitor says.

Russian Federation hit over 200 targets on the same day President Vladimir Putin confirmed the Islamic State bomb brought down the plane, with oil trucks and refineries among the targets.

In a separate statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that its head Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry had a phone talk and discussed the need for joint efforts to combat IS in Syria and the need for talks between Damascus and opposition. Russian Federation backs Syrian President Assad who the USA says needs to give up power.

The anti-terrorism committee said the militants were also preparing a series of attacks in the North Caucasus region.

US officials said last month four missiles launched from Russian warships in the Caspian had crashed in Iran, though Moscow insisted they reached their targets in Syria.

The public message of support for the French capital, where an Islamic State-coordinated attack killed at least 129 people last Friday, comes as Moscow attempts to find common ground with the Western powers in the fight against the extremist group.

Putin agreed to coordinate military actions with France in Syria.

From the Caspian Sea, rocket ships of the Russian Caspian Flotilla on Friday dealt a massive blow by launching 18 cruise missiles complex Caliber-NK 7 toward terrorist targets in the Syrian provinces of Raqqa, Aleppo and Idlib.

The American president also acknowledged the role of Russian Federation in propping Assad, saying the targeted air strikes by the Kremlin were mainly directed against Assad’s opponents than the Islamic State.