Russian Federation will soon suffer ‘casualties’ after Syria intervention: USA defence

At least four cruise missiles fired from Russian navy ships in the Caspian Sea towards Syria Wednesday crashed in northwestern parts of Iran according to US officials.

The USA officials provided no details of where the missiles might have landed.

Reaction from the Iranian government might be fairly muted.

Moscow denies Western accusations that it has mainly targeted Assad opponents, insisting its strikes have hit Islamic State (IS) infrastructure, and other militant groups.

Speaking at almost the same time, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said, “Russia’s joining the struggle against terrorism on Syria’s territory will lead to changes in the region and the whole world”, in remarks relayed by Russia’s Tass news agency. Iran’s not really in much of a position to criticize Russian Federation, also a major source of its arms.

The latest developments came a week after Russian Federation began airstrikes in Syria, its longtime ally, on September 30, and added a new dimension to the complex war that has torn apart the Mideast country since 2011.

But Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the Russians were once again going after the U.S.-backed rebels who have been oust Syrian despot Bashar Assad.

Government-backed troops had moved into the key Ghab plain area, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said the action was conducted with “great precision” and hit all designated targets. Russia’s proposal, however, was rejected, said Ryabkov. The head of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergey Ivanov told reporters that the decision concerns Syria and the matter rests in the operation of the Military Air Forces.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday that the Russian air force has attacked a total of 112 targets, destroying 19 command posts, 12 ammunition depots, 71 armored vehicles as well as factories and workshops producing various explosives, including devices used in auto bombs.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is describing the incidents as “serious”.

While Moscow said it was tackling Islamic State targets, the U.S. state department said more than 90 per cent of the areas targeted by Russian air strikes so far were not held by Islamic State or al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists.

The Turkish Air Force planes were also involved with the aim of warning following this violation.