The US and Russia were to hold new talks yesterday on avoiding incidents in the skies of Syria, as regime forces launched heavy attacks against rebels near Damascus.
Fighting was also reported in the northern city of Aleppo, where militants from the Islamic State (IS) group were making advances against other rebel fighters.
The US-Russia talks came after the Pentagon said US and Russian planes had come within kilometers of each other on Saturday, making visual contact as the countries wage separate air wars over Syria.
Russia launched air strikes in Syria on Sept. 30, raising fears of accidental run-ins with the US-led coalition that has been bombing IS in Syria and Iraq for more than a year.
US Secretary of Defense Ashtob Carter said the talks between the US and Russian militaries would aim to ensure Moscow follows “basic safety procedures” over Syria.
“Even as we continue to disagree on Syria policy, we should be able to at least agree on making sure our airmen are as safe as possible,” Carter said in Boston after talks with his Australian counterpart.
Colonel Steve Warren, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the coalition, told reporters that Saturday’s incident saw coalition and Russian planes just “miles apart” over Syria.
“Visual identification took place. All pilots conducted themselves appropriately and everyone went about their business,” he said. “But this is dangerous right?... There’s always going to be some risk if there are uncoordinated actors in the battle space.”
Russia’s intervention has raised the stakes in the Syrian conflict, which has left more than 245,000 dead and forced millions from their homes since it erupted in March 2011.
Moscow insists it is targeting IS, which has emerged as the preeminent militant group during the conflict, and has seized swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq.
However, Washington and its allies accuse Moscow of targeting moderate Western-backed rebels and seeking to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime Russian ally.
The Syrian regime launched heavy attacks, including air raids, yesterday in a bid to dislodge insurgents entrenched on the outskirts of the capital, a military source said.
“The army began a military operation this morning with the aim of expanding a security zone around areas controlled” by the government, the source said.
“It began in Jobar with limited, precise and effective operations against lines of defense used by armed groups to observe the rest of the capital,” the source said.
Jobar neighborhood, in eastern Damascus, has been a battleground for more than two years. Nearly all of its pre-war population has fled, and fighting between the Syrian army and rebel groups has devastated the suburb.
The Syrian army has attempted on several occasions to retake Jobar.
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