Russia says it targets ‘list’ of militants, not just ISIS
Sen. John McCain insists Moscow is focusing on U.S.-backed groups in Syria
MOSCOW— Russian jets carried out a second day of strikes in Syria Thursday, but there were conflicting claims about whether they were targeting Islamic State and Al Qaeda militants or trying to shore up the defences of President Bashar Assad.
As concerns grew about a conflict that has now drawn in warplanes from the world’s two most powerful militaries, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied reports that civilians were killed in any Russian airstrikes.
“We are ready for such information attacks,” he said in a live broadcast from the Kremlin. “The first reports of civilian casualties came even before our jets took off.”
U.S. and Russian military officials began talks on Thursday on ways to avoid their forces firing on each other in Syria. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country and the U.S.-coalition “see eye to eye” on the targets of the fight in Syria. He added that “we believe that our position is absolutely in line with international law.”
Russian jets appeared to be primarily bombing central and northwestern Syria, strategic regions that are the gateway to Assad’s strongholds in the capital Damascus and the coast. The U.S. and its allies fear that Russia, which has backed the Assad family since the current leader’s father was in power, is using the air campaign as a pretext to shore up dwindling defence — not go after Islamic State.
U.S. Sen. John McCain said Thursday that some Russian airstrikes in Syria were aimed at CIA-backed groups fighting the Assad regime, echoing claims from activists.
McCain, who chairs the Senate armed services committee, told CNN he “can absolutely confirm to you that they were strikes against our Free Syrian Army, or groups that have been armed and trained by the CIA, because we have communications with people there.”
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Russian aircraft damaged or destroyed 12 targets in Syria belonging to Islamic State, including a command centre and two ammunition depots. Officials acknowledged, however, that other unidentified groups were being targeted as well.
Konashenkov said Russian Su-25M and Su-25 jets flew 20 sorties between Wednesday and Thursday morning. He insisted that civilian areas were not targeted.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes in the central province of Hama on Thursday hit locations of the U.S.backed rebel group Tajamu Alezzah, as well as the province of Idlib, which is controlled by a coalition of rebel groups.