Russia raids have weakened armed groups and helped the army: Syria general

“Greater than 90 percent of the strikes that we’ve seen them take to date have not been against ISIL or al-Qaida-affiliated terrorists”, said State Department spokesman John Kirby. The rebels repulsed government troops, al-Ahmad said. The minority Alawites – an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which the Assad family belongs – make up most of the residents of the coastal Latakia and Tartous provinces. The alliance, which seems unlikely, is meant to defeat the Islamic State terror group.

On Wednesday the Syrian army and allied militia carried out ground attacks on insurgent positions in Syria backed by Russian air strikes. This marks the first time the Russians have ever used the Kalibers other than in training.

Wednesday’s ground offensive by the government focused on a number of towns and villages in rural Hama and northwestern Idlib province, sparking intense clashes.

“We can say the attack on Hama yesterday was a failure”, Rami Abdul Rahman, the pseudonym used by the head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said in a telephone interview.

“There is an attempt by the regime to advance but the situation is under our control,” he said.

Around 15 army tanks and armored vehicles had been destroyed or immobilized by rebel missile strikes, Abdulrahman said.

“At the president’s request, the foreign ministry informs our partners in countries that have links to the Free Syrian Army of the Russian side’s readiness to establish contacts with the leadership of this structure”, the ministry said. Previously, at least 40 civilians were killed on the first day of the Russian airstrikes last week.

The group said it documented the use of at least two vacuum bombs – thermobaric weapons “which are entirely indiscriminate in nature and impossible to evade, even when taking shelter”.

The group said the attacks constitute a “grave violation of global humanitarian law and, as a result, a war crime”.

Appearing on television with President Vladimir Putin, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 26 missile strikes were conducted from four warships in the Caspian. Russian officials have said the Nusra Front is among the groups it is targeting.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj.

Andrei Kartapolov of the Russian General Staff told Russian news agencies the strikes were planned so that the cruise missiles would fly “over unpopulated areas”.

Pundit Nourhan el Sheikh in Egyptian state-owned daily Al-Ahram says it “is a clear message that Russian Federation will not allow extremist powers to blow away Syria and Moscow’s interests in the region”.

Iranian state TV, IRINN, reported later Thursday that an unnamed Iranian official also denied the CNN report.

The air campaign in Syria has caught Washington and its allies on the back foot and alarmed Syria’s northern neighbour Turkey, which says its airspace has been repeatedly violated by Russian jets. “NATO will defend you, NATO is on the ground, NATO is ready”, Stoltenberg said.

Russian planes have also incurred into Turkish airspace twice, he said.

“They have initiated a joint ground offensive with the Syrian regime, shattering the facade that they’re there to fight ISIL”, Carter said.

However, pressed about what North Atlantic Treaty Organisation precisely meant to do to aid Turkey, which shares a border with Syria, Stoltenberg told a news conference the mere existence of a beefed-up alliance response force, as well as a new and highly nimble brigade-sized unit able to deploy within 48 hours, may suffice. He warned Russian Federation they “would likely suffer casualties “within the coming days” as it deepens its military involvement in Syria”.