United States aircraft rerouted over Syria, avoids Russians

Russia, which has been carrying out airstrikes in Syria, said Wednesday it has used four warships in the Caspian Sea to launch rockets at Islamic State targets in the war-torn country.

On September 30, Moscow began a controversial air campaign, in conjunction with the Syrian military, targeting positions of what Russian Federation calls terrorists – including Islamic State, the al-Qaeda breakaway faction that the U.S.-led coalition has been bombing for more than a year.

The Russians lack the capability to conduct large-scale, long-distance operations along the lines of the two recent, U.S.-led ground wars in Iraq, Celestan said, but “they do have a few advantages in that they are not as sensitive to civilian casualties or collateral damage and do not have to worry about the same kind of domestic backlash that we do”.

Also on Wednesday the Syrian army and pro-regime forces launched a major ground operation in Hama province backed by air support from Russian warplanes, a military source told AFP news agency.

This “spearhead” force, of about 13,000 troops, could be deployed both to the east and to the south if need be, he said.

Russians say they are using a base in Syria to target the Islamic… There were 57 air raids by Russian air forces.

The missiles were aimed at ISIS targets, according to the Kremlin.

He added: “Today, the Syrian Arab armed forces began a wide ranging attack with the aim of eliminating the terrorists groups and liberating the areas and towns that suffered from their scourge and crimes”.

Although in its early stages, the coordinated attack has revealed the outline of a newly deepened and operationally coordinated alliance among Syria, Iran, Russia, and the militant group Hezbollah, according to an official with the alliance.

The latest Russian airstrikes in Syria, in cooperation with Syrian jets, struck targets in rural areas of the northern Aleppo province, targeting the towns of al-Bab and Deir Hafer, Syrian state TV reported, quoting a military official.

Shoigu also said Russian Federation was ready to agree a document with the United States to coordinate actions in Syria.

Russian forces supporting embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad fired 26 cruise missiles from ships based in the Caspian Sea into eastern Syria on Wednesday in an escalation of Russian involvement in the country’s brutal conflict.

The Russian presence is “not causing us to change our mission” against the Islamic State, Davis said.

A senior administration official, who asked not to be identified, insisted that there were “no surprises” and that policy-makers were “comfortable” with the intelligence they received in the lead-up to the Russian offensive.

“We gathered military attaches [on Tuesday] and offered them, all our colleagues involved in this work one way or another, to tell us about their targets, actually, if they have such targets, so that we could even more efficiently work against ISIS units and camps”, the Russian defense minister said.

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, while visiting USA troops in Spain and Italy Wednesday, said, “this is something we continue to think is evidence of a misguided strategy”.

The Russian campaign has raised hackles in Ankara, which accuses Moscow of violating its airspace from Syria on at least two occasions over the weekend.

“We believe this is a fundamental mistake”. It added that militants opened fire at the helicopters without striking them.