Russia intensifies airstrikes against IS
Photo:
AFP 2015/ DELIL SOULEIMAN
(VOVworld) - Russian combat aircraft have conducted 164 sorties and hit 556 terrorist targets in Syria over the past three days, Russia's General Staff said Monday. Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Sergei Rudskoy said that Russian warplanes are assisting the Syrian opposition forces in an offensive on the de facto IS capital of Raqqa. The Syrian Democratic Forces are an alliance between Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and other militias that was founded in October 2015. The Syrian government forces have continued their offensive in all directions, Sergei Rudkoy said, adding that the army "has achieved major success in Aleppo, Latakia and on the outskirts of Damascus."
Also on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry accused the Pentagon of fighting the Islamic State in ‘word only’ after the U.S. military refused to share targeting and intelligence information with Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Pentagon spokeswoman Michelle Baldanza recently said the U.S. would not “cooperate with Russia on Syria until they change their strategy of supporting Assad and instead focus on IS.”