North Atlantic Treaty Organisation blasts Russian Federation over airspace incursions

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, says the Palmyra strikes killed 15 militants.

In a new round of air raids, Russian airstrikes have destroyed an Islamic State (IS) headquarters, killing up to 40 terrorists, the Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoted a Syrian military source as saying on Tuesday.

Davutoglu said only two of Russia’s 57 air strikes in Syria had hit Islamic State militants, while the rest had been against the “moderate” opposition forces.

Russian Federation began flying combat missions over Syria on September 30 following an escalation in its military support for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The USA has been concerned that Turkey’s focus in Syria may not be entirely aligned with Washington’s, given the Turks’ worry about Syrian Kurdish forces near its border.

USA and Russian officials met once by video conference late last week, before the incursion into the airspace of Turkey, which borders Syria.

After a Russian warplane breached Turkish airspace earlier this week, Turkey said it would view further violations as a threat, but welcomed a Russian offer to meet and discuss the issue.

Since launching air strikes in Syria last week, Russian planes twice entered Turkish airspace and an unidentified MIG-29 harassed Turkish jets on Monday, according to the Turkish military. “And he also travelled to Syria several times since then”, the official said.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador in Ankara again on Monday to protest the breaches, warning of “unwanted results” from similar violations.

“We would be glad to talk to representatives of Turkey’s ministry of defence with whom we could discuss all the technical aspects so that at least we would avoid the misunderstandings which may arise while our military are fulfilling tasks set by the commander-in-chief in Syria”. “And to strive for a negotiated political solution to the conflict in Syria”, he said. The Russian attacks have largely focused on the northwestern and central provinces – the gateways to the heartland of Assad’s power in the capital and on the Mediterranean coast. Turkey said the second violation occurred on Sunday.

Syrian state television, meanwhile, reported Russian planes in coordination with Syrian aircraft had carried out strikes against IS positions in Aleppo province, without specifying when.

“It has been said more and more frequently that Russian warplanes are hitting the wrong targets”, he said.

The agreement also included the provision of more sophisticated Russian weapons to the Syrian army, and the establishment of joint operations rooms that would bring those allies together, along with the government of Iraq, which is allied both to Iran and the US.