U.S. official: few Russian strikes in Syria are against ISIS
Rescue workers and rights groups say Russia’s bombing in Syria has killed scores of civilians at busy market places and in residential areas
Only a third of Russia’s air strikes in Syria are targeting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and its imprecise attacks are forcing the population to flee, fuelling Europe’s refugee crisis, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday.
Of the 5,000 air strikes carried out by Russia since it began its air offensive in Syria on Sept. 30, about 70 percent hit rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, rather than supporting the efforts of the U.S-led coalition, the official told reporters in Brussels.
Rescue workers and rights groups say Russia’s bombing in Syria has killed scores of civilians at busy market places and in residential areas. Russia denies this.
The Kremlin launched its air strikes saying it wanted to help Assad, its main Middle East ally, defeat ISIS and other militant groups.
“We are not convinced of what the Russian intentions are,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“For a while, very few strikes were going against ISIS and after a lot of public condemnation they turned a number of strikes against ISIS,” the official said, referring to Islamic State, the militant group that controls territory in Syria and Iraq.
The U.S. official said Russia used fewer precision-guided munitions than the United States and its allies.
“The Russian strikes that are not precise cause me great concern because I think there is an indirect correlation to the refugee flow,” the official said. “It is not just the pressure it is putting on NATO and the EU, it is also the humanitarian cost,” the official said.
Amnesty International said last month that Moscow’s actions had violated humanitarian law. Amnesty estimates at least 200 civilians were killed by Russian air strikes between Sept. 30 and Nov. 29, which Russia denies.
Russia’s Defence Ministry has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, saying it takes great care to avoid bombing residential areas.
Syria’s civil war which began in 2011 has driven 4.4 million Syrians into neighbouring states from where many are trying to reach Europe.
-
Damascus backs Syria talks, wants attendees’ list
The Syrian government told a U.N. envoy on Saturday it was ready to take part in Geneva peace talks scheduled for Jan. 25 Middle East -
Nearly 60 dead in Russia raids on Qaeda-run Syria jail
Russian warplanes have been conducting air strikes in Syria since September 30 against ISIS Middle East -
ISIS member executes his mother in Syria: monitor
The mother in her 40s had warned her son that a U.S.-backed alliance would wipe out ISIS and had encouraged him to leave Raqqa city Middle East -
French militants who visited Syria given 6, 10 years’ jail
Although Zakaria Chadili spent six months in Syria, he has shown readiness to reinsert himself into French society Middle East -
FBI says refugees used social media to plan fight in Syria
An Iraqi man bragged about his experience fighting in Syria urging an Iraqi refugee in the U.S. to join him in what both hoped would be martyrdom Digital -
Gunmen kill Lebanese intelligence officer near Syria border
Lebanese security officials say masked gunmen have shot and killed a police intelligence officer and wounded his wife Middle East