Russian Warplanes Strike Central And Northern Syria In New Raids

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

Oct 3, 12:13 PM EDT
ALBERT AJIJIM HEINTZ
Associated PressAssociated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Russian warplanes have attacked the Islamic State group and other insurgents in central and northern Syria with a wave of new airstrikes, Syrian and Russian military officials said Saturday as an activist group said Russia's air raids have killed 39 civilians over the three past days.

The new airstrikes came as residents of Syria's central regions fear the Russians are paving the way for a ground offensive by the government on several towns in the central province of Hama and the northwestern region of Idlib - where the Syrian army suffered major setbacks over the past months, activists said.

Russian military spokesman Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the warplanes flew 20 missions in Syria over the past day, hitting nine IS targets. He said an IS command post and a weapons storage bunker were destroyed in the area of Raqqa, the extremists' de facto capital.

Col.-Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, a top official in the Russian military's general staff, said Russian pilots had flown more than 60 sorties since Sept. 30, targeting IS command posts, ammunition storehouses and weapons-production factories.

Read more: http://www.newser.com/article/3ccc37607288443db28902b61f35950e/russian-warplanes-strike-central-and-northern-syria-in-new-raids.html

[AgingAmerican]

1. Now they will become bogged down in a pointless war

...instead of us.

[truthisfreedom]

2. And with their old fashioned cluster bombs

They'll be ever so effective at slaughtering innocents.

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. Will they be as effective as us?

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article29985936.html

Study: U.S. bombing has killed hundreds of Iraqi, Syrian civilians

Reliable reports indicate nearly 600 non-combatants may have died in airstrikes

U.S. to date has acknowledged only two ‘likely’ casualties

Canada is only U.S. ally that promptly provides details of airstrikes

BY JAMES ROSEN
[e-mail]


The almost yearlong bombing campaign against the Islamic State has likely killed hundreds of non-combatants in Iraq and Syria.

Despite repeated denials from the Pentagon, a new report by a London-based monitoring group cites “clear indications” that at least 459 civilians have died in the U.S.-led airstrikes, which started Aug. 8 in Iraq and Sept. 23 in Syria. Other, less reliable reports suggest the number could be as high as 1,086, the report said.

The Pentagon has acknowledged only two civilian deaths as a result of the airstrikes, tied to a November 2014 bombing in Syria it says “likely” killed two girls.

Airwars, which monitors bombing casualties from its offices in Europe and the Middle East, said that contention was concerning. “The coalition’s admission of only two ‘likely’ non-combatant deaths – conceded some seven months after the event – indicates a worrying lack of urgency on the part of all coalition members regarding civilian deaths,” the group said.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article29985936.html#storylink=cpy