36 civilians killed in Russian air strikes as Moscow seeks to back Assad regime
Russian air strikes against Islamic State seen as Moscow’s most dramatic move in Middle East in decades
Russia's air strike in syria killed 36 civilians yesterday, said Khaled Khoja, head of the Syrian National Council opposition group at the U.N. Accodring to Khoja, among the dead were five children. The claim could not be independently verified.
Russia launched air strikes Wednesday in Syria, sharply escalating Moscow’s role in the conflict but also raising questions about whether its intent is fighting Islamic State militants or protecting longtime ally, President Bashar Assad.
President Vladimir Putin called it a pre-emptive strike against the militants, and the Russian Defense Ministry said its warplanes targeted and destroyed eight positions belonging to extremists from the IS group, also known as ISIL or ISIS. It did not give specific locations.
But French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told lawmakers in Paris: “Curiously, they didn’t hit Islamic State. I will let you draw a certain number of conclusions yourselves.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter also said the Russians appeared to have targeted areas that did not include IS militants and complained Moscow did not use formal channels to give advance notice of its air strikes to Washington, which is conducting its own air strikes in Syria against the Islamic State group.
He said the Russians should not be supporting the Assad government and their military moves are “doomed to fail.”