Syria’s army yesterday announced a “vast offensive” to wrest back territory from armed opposition groups, as NATO voiced alarm at escalating Russian military activity in the war-torn nation.
Moscow has dramatically stepped up its nine-day air war against opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with heavy bombing by warplanes and cruise missile strikes from the Caspian Sea.
A Syrian general said the Russian intervention had weakened the Islamic State group and other armed opponents of al-Assad, but Washington said more than 90 percent of Russia’s strikes have targeted the moderate opposition.
Photo: Reuters
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said there had been a “troubling escalation” in Moscow’s air campaign.
“We will assess the latest developments and their implications for the security of the alliance,” Stoltenberg said as he went into a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels dominated by the Syrian conflict. “This is particularly relevant in view of the recent violations of NATO’s airspace by Russian aircraft.”
Tensions between Russia and NATO member Turkey shot up this week after Russian aircraft infringed on Turkish airspace at least twice.
The Russian air war has provided cover for al-Assad’s ground troops, who have previously lost swathes of the nation to Islamic State and other fighters seeking to topple him.
“Greater than 90 percent of the strikes that we’ve seen them take to date have not been against ... al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists,” US Department of State spokesman John Kirby said. “They’ve been largely against opposition groups that want a better future for Syria and don’t want to see the [al-] Assad regime stay in power.”
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