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Russian
warplanes began bombarding Syrian opposition targets in the war-torn nation's
north Wednesday, following a terse meeting at which a Russian general asked
Pentagon officials to clear out of Syrian air space and was rebuffed, News Agencies learned.
A
U.S. official said Russian airstrikes targeted fighters in the vicinity of
Homs, located roughly 60 miles east of a Russian naval facility in Tartus, and
were carried out by a "couple" of Russian bombers. The strikes hit
targets in Homs and Hama, but there is no presence of ISIS in those areas, a
senior U.S. defense official said. These planes are hitting areas where Free
Syrian Army and other anti-Assad groups are located, the official said.
Activists
and a rebel commander on the ground said the Russian airstrikes have mostly hit
moderate rebel positions and civilians. In a video released by the U.S.-backed
rebel group Tajamu Alezzah, jets are seen hitting a building claimed to be a
location of the group in the town of Latamna in the central Hama province.
The
group commander Jameel al-Saleh told a local Syrian news website that the
group's location was hit by Russian jets but didn't specify the damage.
A
group of local activists in the town of Talbiseh in Homs province recorded at
least 16 civilians killed, including two children.
According
to a U.S. senior official, Presidents Obama and Putin agreed on a process to
"deconflict" military operations. The Russians on Wednesday
"bypassed that process," the official said.
"That's
not how responsible nations do business," the official said.
The
development came after Pentagon officials, in a development first reported by an American News, brushed aside an official request, or "demarche," from
Russia to clear air space over northern Syria, where Moscow said it intended to
conduct airstrikes against ISIS on behalf of Assad, according to sources who
spoke to an American News. The request was made in a heated discussion between a
Russian three-star general and U.S. officials at the American Embassy in
Baghdad, sources said.
"If
you have forces in the area we request they leave," said the general, who
used the word "please" in the contentious encounter.
A
senior Pentagon official said the U.S., which also has been conducting
airstrikes against ISIS, but does not support Assad, said the request was not
honored.
"We
still conducted our normal strike operations in Syria today," the official
said. "We did not and have not changed our operations."
State
Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters the Russian airstrikes won't
change the strategy of the U.S.-led coalition.
"The
U.S.-led coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned
and in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy ISIL,"
Kirby told reporters, while acknowledging the meeting at the American embassy
in Baghdad.
Russia's
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told foreign ministers of world powers Wednesday
that his country is "ready to forge standing channels of communication to
ensure a maximally effective fight against terrorist groups."
Lavrov
spoke to the U.N. Security Council shortly after Russia's defense ministry
announced its jets are carrying out airstrikes on Islamic State group positions
in Syria.
Lavrov
said Russia would shortly circulate a draft council resolution to promote joint
efforts against groups like the Islamic State.
The
move by Moscow marks a major escalation in ongoing tensions between the two
countries over military action in the war-torn country and comes moments after
Russian lawmakers formally approved a request from Putin to authorize the use
of troops in Syria. Putin said previously that Russia would strike ISIS
targets.
The
Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, discussed Putin's
request for the authorization behind the closed doors. Sergei Ivanov, chief of
Putin's administration, said in televised remarks that the parliament voted
unanimously to approve the request.
Ivanov
said the authorization is necessary "not in order to achieve some foreign
policy goals" but "in order to defend Russia's national
interests."
Putin
is obligated to request parliamentary approval for any use of Russian troops
abroad, according to the Russian Constitution. The last time he did so was
before Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.
Putin's
request comes after his bilateral meeting with Obama on the sidelines of the
United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, where the two were
discussing Russia's recent military buildup in Syria.
A
U.S. official told American News Channel Monday the two leaders agreed to discuss political
transition in Syria but were at odds over the role that Assad should play in
resolving the civil conflict. The official said Obama reiterated to Putin that
he does not believe there is a path to stability in Syria with Assad in power.
Putin has said the world needs to support Assad because his military has the
best chance to defeat ISIS militants.
Putin
said the meeting, which lasted slightly more than 90 minutes, was “very
constructive, business-like and frank".
"We
are thinking about it, and we don't exclude anything," Putin told
reporters at the time
The
Kremlin reported that Putin hosted a meeting of the Russian security council at
his residence Tuesday night outside of Moscow, saying that they were discussing
terrorism and extremism.
On
Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called on Russia to make a real
contribution to the fight against ISIS, telling reporters at the United Nations
that Moscow "is against the terrorists, it's not abnormal to launch
strikes against them."
"The
international community has hit (ISIS). France has hit (ISIS), Assad very
little, and the Russians not at all. So one has to look at who does what,"
Fabius added.
Russia
has been a staunch supporter of Assad during Syria's bloody civil war, and multiple
reports have previously indicated that Russian troops are aiding Assad's
forces. Israel's defense minister also said earlier this month that Russian
troops are in Syria to help Assad fight the ISIS terror group.
On
Wednesday, Reuters reported that Russia's Foreign Ministry told the news agency
Interfax that a recently established operations center in Baghdad would help
coordinate airstrikes and ground troops in Syria. According to report last week that the center had been set up by Russian,
Syrian and Iranian military commanders with the goal of working with
Iranian-backed Shia militias fighting ISIS.
Over
the weekend, the Iraqi government announced that it would begin sharing
"security and intelligence" information with Russia, Syria and Iran
to help combat ISIS.
Meanwhile,
intelligence sources told an American News Channel Friday that Iranian Quds Force commander
Qasem Soleimani met with Russian military commanders in Baghdad Sept. 22. The report earlier this month that Soleimani met Putin in Moscow over
the summer to discuss a joint military plan in Syria.
"The
Russians are no longer advising, but co-leading the war in Syria," one
intelligence official said at the time.
