Over 36 Dead in Russian-Syrian Air Strike in ISIS-Controlled Area

A Russian air force Tu-160 bomber, top, is escorted by an Su-30SM on a combat mission against a target in Syria.

The decision was made to “protect passengers and because of the crossing of cruise missiles and bombers from the northern part of Iraq to Syria, launched from the Caspian Sea and Iran and Iraq”, it said.

“All the targets were hit”, said Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in an update given Friday on Russian military operations in Syria.

On Friday, Russian cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea passed over northern Iraq on the way to targets in Syria.

In the United Nations, member states backed a motion calling for action against Islamic State a week after the Paris attacks, the worst on French soil also claimed by the jihadist group based in Syria and Iraq.

“Over the past 48 days, the Russian air grouping has performed 2,289 sorties and delivered 4,111 missile and bomb strikes against major infrastructure facilities and the concentrations of the militants’ armor and personnel”, he said. He said this deprived the IS of $1.5 million in daily income from oil sales. Shoigu mentioned the strikes focused on a “single target” over the course of the four days, but wasn’t more specific on what that was. According to reports, ISIS has claimed responsibility of the Paris terror attacks and has continued issuing terror threats to European countries and America.

The Russian military is writing “For Paris” and “For Ours” on the bombs loading onto Russian war planes heading to Syria, as they show their friendship and solidarity with France following the brutal terrorist attacks last week.

Moscow has stepped up its strikes in Syria with long-distance bombers after confirming for the first time on Tuesday that a bomb downed a Russian airliner in Egypt last month.

Just to make sure the ISIS terrorists on the ground got the message, Russian airmen on one mission inscribed the side of their bombs with the slogan “That’s for Paris”.

“The armed forces are conducting an aerial campaign of retribution”, the defense ministry said in a separate statement, adding the military had begun coordinating their operations with the French.