Spotlight: Russia stresses airstrikes in Syria target IS, Western fears groundless
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
stressed on Thursday that Russian airstrikes in Syria were conducted
exclusively on targets connected to IS.
Rumors that the airstrikes did not target IS positions were groundless,
Lavrov said after meeting his U.S. counterpart John Kerry in New York.
Lavrov said after meeting his U.S. counterpart John Kerry in New York.
On Wednesday, Russian air forces launched airstrikes in the central
Syrian provinces of Homs and Hama after Russia's Federation Council, the
upper house of parliament, granted President Vladimir Putin the right
to send armed forces to Syria..
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 20 sorties were carried out, hitting eight IS targets, including a command post,
Defending his decision to strike IS in Syria, Putin said "the only true
way to combat international terrorism, which is rampant in Syria and
its neighboring countries, is to act preemptively."
"(We should) fight with and destroy terrorist militants in the
territories occupied by them, not waiting for these terrorists to come
to our home," Putin was quoted as saying in an online transcript
released by the Kremlin.
If the IS succeeds in Syria, no doubt the militants who come from other
countries to assist the IS would go back to their motherland, including
Russia, Putin said.
The IS controls part of Homs province, including the ancient town of
Palmy. Homs also hosts positions run by al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria,
the Busra Front. Both groups have fighters from the former Soviet Union,
including Chechnya.
"It is possible and appropriate to bring together all interested
countries to fight international terrorism and work together based on
the United Nations Charter," Putin said.
