US allies urge Russia to stop hitting Syria oppn

AFP, ANKARA: Turkey, its key Western allies and Gulf nations on Friday urged Russia to stop attacks on the Syrian opposition, warning Moscow’s bombing campaign would “fuel extremism”.
“These military actions constitute a further escalation and will only fuel more extremism and radicalisation,” said a statement by seven countries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
“We call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians,” added the statement, which was published on the websites of foreign ministries in Turkey, Germany and France.
The states, most of whom are full members of the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS) jihadists, said Russia should “focus its efforts on fighting ISIL,” an alternative name for the IS group. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that the airforce had targeted IS, the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and “other terrorist groups”.
But Turkey and several of its Western allies have said that moderate groups fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad were hit.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday that Russia’s initial air strikes had been exclusively directed at the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the main moderate opposition armed group fighting the Damascus regime. The statement expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s strikes which “led to civilian casualties and did not target” IS.
The seven countries supporting the joint declaration are Britain, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States. It was published following intensive diplomacy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York where Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu meet late on Thursday with his US counterpart John Kerry. Russia on Thursday launched what a UK-based monitoring group said were its first strikes against IS, hitting the extremist group’s bastion in the Raqa province.
Aother reports from Beirut adds: At least 12 members of the Islamic State group have been killed in Russia’s first air strikes on the extremist faction’s main Syrian bastion, a monitoring group said.
Russian aerial attacks also targeted the Army of Conquest, the most powerful Islamist coalition taking on Syrian regime forces in the country’s northwest, a security source on the ground said.
Russia’s defence ministry confirmed it had carried out strikes on Raqa province on Thursday, as well as raids on the provinces of Aleppo in the north, Idlib in the northwest, and Hama in the centre. The strikes are the first time Russia has targeted IS’s stronghold in Raqa province, the de facto Syrian capital of its self-styled “caliphate.” In a statement, Russia’s defence ministry said Su-34 planes struck “an IS training camp near the village of Maadan Jadid,” 70 km (45 miles) east of Raqa city, and “a camouflaged command post at Kasrat Faraj, southwest of Raqa.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those strikes had killed at least a dozen IS fighters.

 

US allies urge Russia to stop hitting Syria oppn

AFP, ANKARA: Turkey, its key Western allies and Gulf nations on Friday urged Russia to stop attacks on the Syrian opposition, warning Moscows bombing campaign would fuel extremism. These military actions constitute a further escalation and will only fuel more extremism and radicalisation, said a statement by seven countries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States. We call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians, added the statement, which was published on the websites of foreign ministries in Turkey, Germany and France. The states, most of whom are full members of the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS) jihadists, said Russia should focus its efforts on fighting ISIL, an alternative name for the IS group. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that the airforce had targeted IS, the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and other terrorist groups. But Turkey and several of its Western allies have said that moderate groups fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad were hit. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday that Russias initial air strikes had been exclusively directed at the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the main moderate opposition armed group fighting the Damascus regime. The statement expressed deep concern over Russias strikes which led to civilian casualties and did not target IS. The seven countries supporting the joint declaration are Britain, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States. It was published following intensive diplomacy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York where Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu meet late on Thursday with his US counterpart John Kerry. Russia on Thursday launched what a UK-based monitoring group said were its first strikes against IS, hitting the extremist groups bastion in the Raqa province. Aother reports from Beirut adds: At least 12 members of the Islamic State group have been killed in Russias first air strikes on the extremist factions main Syrian bastion, a monitoring group said. Russian aerial attacks also targeted the Army of Conquest, the most powerful Islamist coalition taking on Syrian regime forces in the countrys northwest, a security source on the ground said. Russias defence ministry confirmed it had carried out strikes on Raqa province on Thursday, as well as raids on the provinces of Aleppo in the north, Idlib in the northwest, and Hama in the centre. The strikes are the first time Russia has targeted ISs stronghold in Raqa province, the de facto Syrian capital of its self-styled caliphate. In a statement, Russias defence ministry said Su-34 planes struck an IS training camp near the village of Maadan Jadid, 70 km (45 miles) east of Raqa city, and a camouflaged command post at Kasrat Faraj, southwest of Raqa. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those strikes had killed at least a dozen IS fighters.