Russia, Turkey conduct joint airstrikes against ISIS in Syria

MOSCOW — The Russian military said Wednesday that it has teamed up with Turkey to conduct joint airstrikes, coordinated with Damascus, against a stronghold of the Islamic State group in northern Syria.

It is the first acknowledgment of Russian cooperation in support of Turkey’s offensive in the area.

It is also the first incident of indirect coordination between the Turkish and the Syrian governments.

Ankara has been calling for the ouster of President Bashar Assad and has supported the armed rebellion against him. Syrian officials have called Turkey’s operations on Syrian territories an “occupation.”

In a sign of a possible new ground for cooperation in the area, U.S. defense officials said Tuesday the U.S-led coalition has also carried out attacks against the Islamic State group in the same area— al-Bab, in the province of Aleppo — at a time when Turkish troops have struggled there since November.

It highlighted an increasingly close alliance between Russia and Turkey, which last month jointly brokered a Syria truce and are working to prepare Syrian talks in Kazakhstan next week.

The two nations have backed opposing sides in the nearly six-year Syrian conflict, with Moscow supporting Assad and Ankara backing his foes.

In August, Turkish troops crossed the border to help Syrian opposition forces battle Islamic State militants and halt the advance of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters, who are also fighting the extremists.

But as the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, puts up a fight for al-Bab, Turkey has become bogged down in a grueling battle over the town, one of the few remaining Islamic State strongholds in northern Syria.