Russia Begins 'Surgical Strikes' in Syria
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FROM SEPT. 29: Russian Military Aircraft Parked on the Apron of Syrian Airport 0:40
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MOSCOW — Russia began carrying out strategic airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday, warning the U.S. to steer clear of the country's airspace as its warplanes joined in the fight against ISIS.
But the U.S. State Department said Moscow's request would be ignored, adding that American jets would continue to fly missions as part of a separate air campaign to root out the militants.
Secretary of State John Kerry quickly questioned the move Wednesday and asked during a U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York whether Russia's intentions in Syria "reflects a genuine commitment to defeating" ISIS. He said those efforts cannot be confused with supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is in a struggle for power with both ISIS and rebel factions.
"The reality is Assad has rarely chosen himself to fight ISIL," Kerry said, using an alternative name for the terrorist group.
Kerry: US has 'Grave Concerns' over Russia's Airstrikes 1:31
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Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed his nation's warplanes were "conducting an air operation with surgical strikes on ground targets of the terrorist group ISIS" in key Middle East ally Syria.
He added that "ISIS's military equipment, communication hubs, transportation, and ammo and fuel depots" were being targeted.
However, a U.S. defense official told NBC News that the first strikes occurred near the city of Homs. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the U.S. was not aware of any ISIS fighters in that area.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, dismissed reports Wednesday that Russia targeted non-ISIS opposition or killed civilians in Syria.
Earlier Wednesday, Russian lawmakers voted unanimously to allow President Vladimir Putin to order airstrikes in Syria, where Moscow has deployed fighter jets and other weapons in recent weeks.
Putin said the only way to fight "terrorists" in Syria was to act preemptively.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said that a Russian official in Baghdad warned the U.S. Embassy personnel that the anti-ISIS missions would begin Wednesday.
Kirby added: "He further requested that U.S. aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during these missions ... 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 [another acronym for ISIS]."
According to the U.S. defense official, the Russians provided less than an hour's notice that the bombings were about to begin.
U.S. officials had said in recent days that the Russians were flying reconnaissance missions over Syria without dropping bombs to familiarize themselves within the area. That was taken as an indication that they were about to begin airstrikes, they added.
Putin said that his country would support Assad without participating in ground operations, according to the Interfax news agency.
Putin's Chief of Staff Seeks to Assure on Russian Military in Syria 0:55
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He said the airstrikes by Russia came after a request by the Syrian administration and were being carried out "on the basis of international law," Interfax reported.
Sergei Ivanov, the Kremlin's chief of staff, said Russia's missions would be limited and not open-ended. He precluded the use of ground troops.
"The military aim of our operations will be exclusively to provide air support to Syrian government forces in their struggle against ISIS," Ivanov added.
The airstrikes mark Russia's biggest play in the region since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Putin Calls for 'Alliance Against Terrorism…like One Against Hitler' 0:56
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A U.S.-led coalition has already been bombing ISIS in Iraq and Syria, but Putin derided Washington's efforts to end the Syria war at the United Nations on Monday. He suggested a broader and more coordinated coalition was needed to defeat the militants.
Putin's endorsement of an international coalition helps put him in a position to help prop up Assad, an ally in the region, and could help Moscow play a pivotal role in choosing the Syrian leader's successor should he leave office, said David Rothkopf, a former Clinton administration official and editor of Foreign Policy Group, a collection of foreign policy publications.
"It's a deliberately calculated step by Putin to say Obama and the West today aren't doing enough and we should step up and fill the void," Rothkopf said.
McCain Critical of Obama as Russian Airstrikes Begin in Syria 1:56
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Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, took to the floor on Wednesday and placed the blame for Russia's increased presence in the region squarely with the Obama administration.
"President Obama has sounded retreat across the Middle East," said McCain who has long been a critic of the administration's policy in the region. He added that a series of "decisions or non-decisions" have led to a situation where the U.S. has "confused our friends (and) encouraged our enemies."
"Into the wreckage of this administration's Middle East policy steps Vladamir Putin," McCain said.
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By Andrew Osborn and Phil Stewart
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia launched air strikes in Syria on Wednesday in the Kremlin's biggest Middle East intervention in decades, but Moscow's assertion that it had hit Islamic State was immediately disputed by the United States and rebels on the ground.
The air strikes plunged the four-year-old civil war in Syria into a volatile new phase as President Vladimir Putin moved forcefully to assert Russian influence in the unstable region.
Moscow and Washington offered conflicting accounts of which targets had been struck, underlining growing tensions between the two former Cold War foes over Russia's decision to intervene. Washington is concerned that Moscow is more interested in propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad than in beating Islamic State.
The Russian defense ministry said the strikes targeted military equipment, communication facilities, arms depots, ammunition and fuel belonging to Islamic State.
U.S. officials said targets in the Homs area appeared to have been struck, but not areas held by Islamic State.
Russia warned the United States ahead of the strikes to keep its aircraft out of Syrian airspace, but the United States pressed forward with its campaign of air strikes against Islamic State forces and said it had targeted Islamic State near the Syrian city of Aleppo.
A U.S. official said Moscow gave Washington just an hour's notice of its strikes, which the Kremlin said were designed to help Assad, its closest regional ally, push back Islamist militants.
Notice of the attack came from a Russian official in Baghdad who asked the U.S. air force to avoid Syrian airspace during the mission, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
In Moscow, Putin said Russian air strikes in Syria would be limited in scope and that he hoped Assad was ready for political reform and a compromise for the sake of his country and people.
"I know that President Assad understands that and is ready for such a process. We hope that he will be active and flexible and ready to compromise in the name of his country and his people," he told reporters.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington would have "grave concerns" if Russia hit Syrian targets where Islamic State fighters were not present. Speaking at the U.N. Security Council, Kerry also said the militant group, which is also known as ISIL and ISIS, "cannot be defeated as long as Bashar al-Assad remains president of Syria."
Striking Homs and opposition groups but not IS showed the Kremlin's primary aim was to prop up Assad, a French diplomatic source said.
Areas of the province of Homs struck by the Russians are controlled by an array of rebel groups including several operating under the banner of the "Free Syrian Army", activists, locals and rebels said. None of the sources named Islamic State as one of the groups operating in the areas hit on Wednesday. Assad views all the forces opposing him in the civil war as terrorist groups.
The Homs area is crucial to Assad's control of western Syria. Insurgent control of that area would bisect the Assad-held west, separating Damascus from the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, where Russia operates a naval facility.
Iyad Shamse, leader of an FSA Syrian rebel group, the Asala and Tanmieh Front, told Reuters: "There is no Islamic State in this area. The Russians are applying great pressure on the revolution. This will strengthen terrorism, everyone will head toward extremism. Any support for Assad in this way is strengthening terrorism."
He put the death toll from the Russian air strikes at 50 civilians, including children.
According to a pro-Syrian government military source, there were "five strikes against five areas in Syria’s Homs.” He said other areas may have been bombed too.
PROXY WAR
Moscow’s intervention means the conflict in Syria has been transformed in a few months from a proxy war, in which outside powers were arming and training mostly Syrians to fight each other, to an international conflict in which the world’s main military powers except China are directly involved in fighting.
That raises the risks of military accidents between outside powers and raises pressure for a diplomatic solution, without making it any easier.
Russia joined the United States and its Arab allies, Turkey, France, Iran and Israel in direct intervention, with Britain expected to join soon, if it gets parliamentary approval.
Russian jets went into action after the upper house of the Russian parliament gave Putin unanimous backing for strikes following a request for military assistance from Assad.
In a barely concealed jibe at Washington, a spokesman for Putin said later the vote meant Moscow would be practically the only country in Syria to be conducting operations "on a legitimate basis" and at the request of "the legitimate president of Syria".
The last time the Russian parliament granted Putin the right to use military force abroad, a technical requirement under Russian law, Moscow seized Crimea from Ukraine last year.
Putin said Russia's military involvement in the Middle East would involve only its air force and would be temporary. One of the reasons for getting involved was the need to stop Russian citizens who had joined the ranks of Islamic State from later returning home to cause trouble, he said.
A U.S.-led coalition has already been bombing Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. But Putin derided U.S. efforts on Monday in a speech at the United Nations, suggesting a broader and more coordinated coalition was needed to defeat the militants.
"The military aim of our operations will be exclusively to provide air support to Syrian government forces in their struggle against ISIS (Islamic State)," Sergei Ivanov, the Kremlin's Chief-of-Staff, said before reports that the strikes had begun.
Russia has been steadily dispatching more and more military aircraft to a base in Latakia, regarded as an Assad stronghold, after the Syrian government suffered a series of battlefield reverses.
Moscow has already sent military experts to a recently established command center in Baghdad which is coordinating air strikes and ground troops in Syria, a Russian official told Reuters.
Russia's involvement in Syria will be a further challenge for Moscow, which is already intervening in Ukraine at a time when its own economy is suffering from low oil prices and Western sanctions.
(Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly, Daria Korsunskaya, Alexander Winning, Gabriela Baczynska, Vladimir Soldatkin, Maria Tsvetkova and Tom Perry and Mariam Karouny in Beirut, Sylvia Westall, Jean-Baptiste Vey in Paris, Will Dunham in Washington; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Will Dunham; Editing by Giles Elgood and Frances Kerry)
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Market Summary
At 1:43 PM ET: Oct '15 light sweet crude futures are unchanged at $45.23 a barrel in Nymex electronic trading. Oct '15 gold futures are down $11.80, or 1.05%, at $1,115.30 an ounce in electronic trading. Dec '15 corn futures closed down 4.00 today, or 1.03%, at 385.00 cents a bushel.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, holds a meeting with senior government officials at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015. Russian military jets carried out airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria on Wednesday for the first time, after President Vladimir Putin received parliamentary approval to send Russian troops to Syria. (Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) (Associated Press)
By Associated Press September 30 at 1:31 PM
MOSCOW — The latest developments as Russia and other nations counter Islamic State militants in Syria. All times local:
8:25 p.m.
Germany’s foreign minister says Russia’s airstrikes in Syria don’t diminish his concerns about the situation in the country and is calling for more information on the attacks.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York that there’s no authoritative information yet on “the targets and methods of these airstrikes.” He added that “Russia must have an interest of its own in ensuring that this is cleared up as quickly as possible.”
Steinmeier said that “in this heated situation, there is a great danger that there could be further misunderstandings.”
He noted that his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov has said all must ensure that international efforts to fight the Islamic State group are coordinated, and said: “this also goes for Russian activities.”
Steinmeier insisted that there ultimately will be no military solution to Syria’s conflict.
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8:20 p.m.
Syria’s foreign minister says his country strongly endorses “the initiative of President Putin” and is calling French and other airstrikes in Syria that aren’t coordinated with his government a “blatant contravention” of international law.
Walid al-Moallem spoke to the U.N. Security Council shortly after Russia announced its own airstrikes and circulated to council members a draft resolution aimed at coordinating global efforts in the fight against terror.
“Those who really do want to fight terrorism in Syria need to cooperate their work with the government in Syria,” al-Moallem told the council, and he urged everyone to follow Russia’s call.
He also questioned what the council has done to fight terrorism. Russia’s use of its veto has blocked several proposals on Syria.
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8:15 p.m.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States is prepared to welcome Russian military action in Syria as long as it is directed against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliates.
Speaking at the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Kerry said that the U.S. would have “grave concerns” if Russia conducted strikes against other groups. And, he said Russian operations must not support Syrian President Bashar Assad or interfere with those of the U.S.-led coalition that is already attacking Islamic States targets.
Kerry spoke as Russia launched its first airstrikes in Syria targeting what it said were Islamic State positions. U.S. officials and others cast doubt on that claim, saying the Russians appeared to be attacking opposition groups fighting Syrian government forces.
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8:10 p.m.
Syrian state TV is quoting the country’s foreign minister as praising a new mechanism for coordination between Damascus, Russia, Iran and Iraq to combat terrorism.
Walid al-Moallem was quoted by state TV Wednesday as discussing the new mechanism with his Iraqi counterpart at the sidelines of a United Nations’ meetings in New York.
Iraq had previously said it will begin sharing intelligence with Syria, Russia and Iran to help combat the Islamic State group.
Al-Moallem said the new mechanism provides a way for the four countries to coordinate their fight against terrorism.
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8:00 p.m.
U.S. Senate Republicans are denouncing Russia’s actions in Syria.
Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the airstrikes “pretty incredible” and criticized President Barack Obama’s administration for not taking a stronger stance against Russia.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Senator John McCain of Arizona, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that initial reports are that Russian pilots were hitting targets not controlled by IS.
He said some strikes were near the city of Homs, which the militants do not control, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s true intentions are to maintain a strong position in Syria and support Syrian President Bashar Assad.
He also criticized Obama for saying that the U.S. is willing to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the Syrian conflict.
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7:55 p.m.
Britain’s foreign minister says his country welcomes Russia’s new “focus” on using force against the Islamic State group in Syria, but warns it’s “very important that Russia be able to confirm that military action it has undertaken this morning” doesn’t target Syria’s moderate opposition.
Philip Hammond told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that actions in support of Syria’s government are incompatible with the fight against terrorism.
Hammond said the international community will expect Russia to use the growing influence it has in Syria to pressure Syria’s government not to use barrel bombs against civilians and to prevent any use of chemicals as weapons.
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7:40 p.m.
France’s Foreign Minister says “initial indications” show Russian airstrikes in Syria didn’t target zones controlled by the Islamic State group, and said if confirmed this runs counter to a condition France has set on agreeing to join a Russian coalition against the extremists.
Laurent Fabius says “verification is underway” to determine what the Russian strikes targeted, but that it currently appears they may have targeted zones held by Syrian opposition forces, who Russia considers terrorists seeking to overthrow its long-time ally Bashar Assad.
Fabius said France is not against the Russian proposal of an anti-IS coalition, but on three conditions: that strikes only target IS, that the Syrian regime end barrel bombing of civilian populations, and that negotiations for a political solution resume, with the understanding that Assad cannot be a part of the solution.
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7:35 p.m.
A prominent member of Russia’s parliament has suggested that Russia could strike beyond Syria if the extremists targeted by its airstrikes flee across the border.
“When you poison an insect it’s not enough to send it into the neighbors’ kitchen,” said Konstantin Kosachyov, who chairs the international affairs committee in the Russian parliament’s upper house. “This would make our efforts to counter terrorism meaningless.”
Kosachyov noted that President Vladimir Putin’s request for authorization to use military force abroad did not specify the country, adding that this was intentional.
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7:30 p.m.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told Russia’s LifeNews TV station that reports of civilian casualties from the Russian airstrikes in Syria are part of an “information war.”
She said “all this is the same sort of information attack, the same sort of information war, of which we hear so many times and which, it appears, someone prepared well.”
Activists and a rebel commander in Syria earlier Wednesday claimed the Russian airstrikes in the country have mostly hit moderate rebel positions and civilians.
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7:20 p.m.
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said the use of Russian military force in Syria adds a “troubling” new development to the war in Syria and throws Assad a “life line.”
He said it could be more destabilizing than Turkey’s effort to combat the Kurds.
“The Russian air campaign may be even more destructive if it targets moderate rebel forces fighting the Assad regime,” Schiff said.
“The increased longevity of the regime - made possible by this Russian intervention - will only prolong the civil war, which will continue as long as a regime that barrel bombs its own people remains in power,” he said.
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7:05 p.m.
The U.S. conducted airstrikes in Syria as planned Wednesday including one near Aleppo, which is in the northwest but not near where the Russians were flying, a U.S. official said.
The official said the Russian officer who notified the U.S. of the strikes said the U.S. should stay out of Syrian airspace and remove any troops it has on the ground working with rebels in Syria.
The U.S. has repeatedly said it has no U.S. military forces on the ground in Syria.
The official was not authorized to discuss the missions publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
—By Lolita Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington
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7:00 p.m.
Activists and a rebel commander in Syria claim the Russian airstrikes in the country 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. A Syrian military official had earlier said the Russian jets hit this town.
The AP could not independently verify the claims.
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6:25 p.m.
Former CIA director, Gen. David Petraeus, has said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s immediate objective in Syria is to solidify the corridor on the Mediterranean coast between Latakia where he has an air base and Tartus where he has a Russian naval base.
As he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, Petraeus said Putin also wants to help Syrian President Bashar Assad solidify his grip on the country, which has been increasingly challenged in recent months by the Islamic State and other opposition groups.
Petraeus warned against partnering with Russia, Iran and Assad against IS and said the U.S. should deter any action by Russia involving any of the forces backed by the U.S.
“If Russia wanted to fight ISIS, they could have joined the 60-plus member coalition that Gen. Allen has so capably put together and help drop bombs on ISIS. They have some capabilities that would be useful to that fight so this is clearly not what they’re up to,” he said.
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6:15 p.m.
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein says she thinks it’s possible that Russia’s move in Syria could be a positive development.
Feinstein, who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said help from “Russia and Iran in a political solution for Syria is important.”
Feinstein said the key is to defeat the Islamic State group and then to hold an election in Syria, and that the U.S. should cooperate with Russia.
She said it was important to “change the dynamic” because IS continues to encroach on other states.
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6:05 p.m.
A senior U.S. official says Russia’s airstrikes in Syria did not appear to be targeting the Islamic State group, but other opposition groups fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The official said IS militants are not in the western part of the country, beyond Homs, where the Russian strikes were directed.
The official was not authorized to discuss the Russian airstrikes publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
Russia notified the U.S. about the impending airstrikes through the embassy in Baghdad about an hour before they started, the official said.
According to the official, there were no conflicts with the Russian strikes, and they had no impact on the coalition missions, which are primarily in the north and east.
The U.S. is still trying to assess the damages of the Russian strikes.
—By Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burn in Washington.
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5:50 p.m.
A U.S.-backed Syrian rebel group has claimed that Russian warplanes have hit its positions in central Syria.
The group, known as Tajamu Alezzah, wrote scornfully on Twitter Wednesday that “eradicating terrorism appears to begin with attacks” on its locations in the central city of Latamna in the province of Hama.
The group, which boasts of having TOW missiles, didn’t provide specific details on the targets or how it can ascertain the strikes were by Russian jets.
Washington has equipped and trained a number of moderate Syrian rebel groups but most have been crushed by al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria.
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5:45 p.m.
Russia’s foreign minister is telling the foreign ministers of world powers that his country is “ready to forge standing channels of communication to ensure a maximally effective fight against terrorist groups” with the United States and other countries.
Sergey Lavrov spoke Wednesday 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.
Lavrov addressed the council during a major U.N. gathering of world leaders. Russia is chairing the meeting as the council president this month.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also is expected to address the meeting.
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5:35 p.m.
A Syrian military official says Russian warplanes have targeted positions of the Islamic State group in central Syria.
Syrian state TV quotes an unnamed military official as saying that the air raids are part of the “Russian-Syrian agreement to fight international terrorism and wipe out the Daesh organization.”
The official used an Arabic acronym to refer to the Islamic State group.
The official said on Wednesday that the air raids targeted the extremists’ positions in central Syria including the areas of Rastan and Talbiseh, as well as areas near the town of Salamiyeh in Hama province.
The official said the Russian airstrikes were in cooperation with the Syrian air force.
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5:00 p.m.
Pentagon’s press secretary says Defense Secretary Ash Carter has instructed his staff to talk to Russian officials about how to keep each other’s air operations in Syria from colliding or getting in each other’s way.
Peter Cook said it was not yet clear when these talks would start or who would participate.
Russia’s defense ministry earlier Tuesday said its jets have started carrying out airstrikes on Islamic State group positions in Syria.
A U.S. led coalition has been targeting IS militants in Syria and Iraq since last year.
Russia and the U.S. are at odds over the Russian involvement because Washington has said Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is a key ally of Moscow, must be removed from power.
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4:20 p.m.
Russia’s defense ministry says its jets are carrying out airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Syria.
The ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies on Wednesday that Russian jets are carrying out targeted airstrikes on the positions, vehicles and warehouses that Russia believes belong to IS militants.
Earlier Wednesday, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament gave the green light to President Vladimir Putin’s request to use Russian forces in Syria. A Kremlin official said the move was to protect Russia’s national security, since at least 2,400 Russians have gone to fight in Syria or Iraq.
Syrian President Bashar Assad is a key ally of Moscow.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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We've become surprisingly accustomed to Western powers, such as the United States, Britain and France, intervening militarily in the Middle East. The confirmation on Wednesday that Russian warplanes have begun carrying out airstrikes in Syria is something different. These strikes are an exceptionally rare example of Russia using its considerable military might outside its traditional sphere of influence.
In fact, to find a Russian military action that is as brazenly open and as far out of Moscow's back yard, you may well have to look deep into the Cold War period.
That is not to say that Russia hasn't used that might in recent years. Russian troops are currently accused of fighting alongside rebels in eastern Ukraine. In 2008, Moscow sent troops into Georgia and its air force bombed the capital, Tbilisi. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia fought in two bloody wars in Chechnya and carried out airstrikes during Tajikistan's civil war.
However, almost all of Russia's international military action in recent years has taken place in the "near abroad" — a term used in Russia and elsewhere to describe post-Soviet states that Moscow still considers strategically vital. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has only rarely and indirectly been involved in conflicts outside this sphere of influence — Russian soldiers were in Bosnia and Kosovo during the 1990s but functioned as peacekeepers. (Russia continues to send a small number of military experts and troops to participate in the United Nations' peacekeeping missions).
Even when you delve further into the Soviet era, it is hard to find Russian military action comparable to the airstrikes in Syria. Soviet troops fought a brutal war in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, but at the time the country was a direct neighbor of the Soviet Union. Soviet troops were involved in uprisings in Hungary 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968, but — again — all of these countries were clearly within Moscow's sphere of influence. Soviet troops were stationed in Vietnam during the war there and Soviet planes flew during the Korean War, but the Soviet Union did not play an official role in these and other proxy conflicts at the time (one of the more significant examples of Soviet military support in this period came during the Angolan civil war, though Soviet-backed Cuban troops formed the majority of this intervention).
Remarkably, for all of Moscow's interest in the Middle East, Soviet troops never openly fought in a conflict in the region during the Cold War. Moscow became a key ally of Egypt, Syria and Iraq during the Cold War, selling arms, providing diplomatic support and sending military advisers to the region. At a number of points, Russia threatened to directly intervene in conflicts in the region, and it did so covertly at least once (in 1970, when some Russian troops even donned Egyptian uniforms to fight Israel). However, Moscow usually distanced itself from direct involvement in conflicts in the Middle East and on several occasions pressured states to avoid fighting.
The Kremlin has repeatedly emphasized that, unlike recent interventions by Western powers, Russian airstrikes in Syria are taking place at the request of President Bashar al-Assad and that they are targeting the Islamic State militant group. “Russia will factually be the only country to carry out this operation on the legitimate basis of the request of the legitimate government of Syria,” Dmitri Peskov, a Putin spokesman, told journalists in Moscow on Wednesday. Assad's office has said that it requested the strikes.
However, Fiona Hill, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, emphasizes that while Russia had shied away from openly engaging in overseas military operations for years, it is thought to have repeatedly struck outside its traditional sphere in targeted assassinations in the Middle East and Europe. Hills points to the 2004 car bomb that killed Chechen rebel leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in Doha, Qatar. "Russia is now engaged in a more elaborate set of strikes against another crop of terrorists in Syria/Middle East who could target Russian interests," Hill writes in an e-mail.
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Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University.
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Russia has begun carrying out air strikes in Syria against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad.
The strikes reportedly hit rebel-controlled areas of Homs and Hama provinces, causing casualties.
The US says it was informed an hour before they took place.
Russian defence officials say aircraft targeted the Islamic State group, but an unnamed US official told Reuters that so far they did not appear to be targeting IS-held territory.
Syria's civil war has raged for four years, with an array of armed groups fighting to overthrow the government.
The US and its allies have insisted that President Assad should leave office, while Russia has backed its ally remaining in power.
The upper house of the Russian parliament earlier granted President Vladimir Putin permission to deploy the Russian air force in Syria.
The Russian defence ministry said the country's air force had targeted IS military equipment, communication facilities, arms depots, ammunition and fuel supplies.
Syrian opposition activists said Russian warplanes had hit towns including Zafaraneh, Rastan and Talbiseh, resulting in the deaths of 36 people, a number of them children.
None of the areas targeted were controlled by IS, activists said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States was prepared to welcome Russian military action in Syria - but only as long as it was directed against IS and al-Qaeda-linked groups.
Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, Mr Kerry said the US would have "grave concerns" if Russia conducted strikes against other groups.
He said the US-led coalition against IS would "dramatically accelerate our efforts" and that the US was prepared to hold talks with Russia about avoiding accidental conflicts between the two air strike campaigns "as early as possible".
Analysis: Jonathan Marcus, defence and diplomatic correspondent
Russia's decision to intervene with its air power greatly complicates the Syrian crisis while probably offering little additional chance of a diplomatic resolution.
Russian sources indicate that Sukhoi Su-24 warplanes were involved, operating out of an airbase near Latakia.
There are serious questions about who exactly the Russian aircraft are targeting. US officials believe that the initial Russian strikes are not in IS-held territory, raising the possibility that Russian air power is being utilised more in the form of close air support for Syrian government forces against the multiple enemies of the Assad regime.
Of course, many of these enemies are supported by the West's Arab allies or Turkey. The warning time given by the Russians to the Americans announcing the start of their operations may also raise some eyebrows, suggesting that much more detailed co-ordination may be needed in future to avoid incidents in Syrian airspace.
In a televised address, Mr Putin said the air strikes were targeting Islamist militants - including Russian citizens - who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
"If they [militants] succeed in Syria, they will return to their home country, and they will come to Russia, too," he said.
He added that Russia was not going to send ground troops to Syria, and that its role in Syrian army operations would be limited.
"We certainly are not going to plunge head-on into this conflict... we will be supporting the Syrian army purely in its legitimate fight with terrorist groups."
Mr Putin also said he expected President Assad to talk with the Syrian opposition about a political settlement, but clarified that he was referring to what he described as "healthy'' opposition groups.
A US defence official said: "A Russian official in Baghdad this morning informed US embassy personnel that Russian military aircraft would begin flying anti-Isil [IS] missions today over Syria. He further requested that US aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during these missions."
US state department spokesman John Kirby told reporters: "The US-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 [IS]."
Syria's civil war
What's the human cost?
More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed and a million injured in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war.
And the survivors?
More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes, four million of them abroad, as forces loyal to President Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from IS and other groups. Growing numbers of refugees are going to Europe.
How has the world reacted?
Regional and world powers have also been drawn into the conflict. Iran and Russia, along with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, are propping up the Alawite-led government. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are backing the Sunni-dominated opposition, along with the US, UK and France.
Are you in the area? Have you been affected? You can share your experience by emailinghaveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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Afghan forces, assisted by U.S.-led airstrikes. have begun operations to retake the city of Kunduz.The city fell under Taliban control yesterday, the first provincial capital to have done so since U.S. forces ousted the Taliban from power fourteen years ago. Kunduz has long been a violent place; theWashington Post describes the history of brutality and violence in the Kunduz province, noting that the region “was the frequent site of atrocities, looting and betrayal between 1992 and 2001.”
Following their seizure of the city, Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour promised that the group “has no intention of transgressing against [] personal property, carrying out extrajudicial killings, looting or breaching the inviolability of homes"—though looting of ammunition, vehicles, computers, and other goods was reported throughout the city. Mansour also urged citizens continue their daily tasks without fear of the Taliban forces, who he said were now responsible for protecting them. The New York Times posted selfies featuring Taliban fighters; Kunduz citizens shared these on social media. According to the Guardian, Médecins Sans Frontières facilities are operating at full capacity, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has urged citizens “to trust Afghan troops to do the job” and take back the city from the insurgents.
Yet Ghani’s forces are currently being tested not only from Taliban offensives but also by assaults from the Islamic State. Afghan News reports that 30 Islamic State militants have been killed by Afghan forces in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province.
Meanwhile, the U.N. General Assembly continues in New York.
Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama both addressed the assembly yesterday morning and addressed the conflict in Syria. As the Times puts it, “two speeches, one reception and a meeting later, there was no hint that the two leaders had substantially narrowed the chasm between them on their principal disagreement: the future of Mr. Assad.” In remarks to the Assembly, Mr. Putin made thinly veiled suggestions that the West, in its efforts to spread democracy, had largely contributed to upheaval in the Middle East.
On the other hand, President Obama maintained that the United States would be willing to work with other countries in the region, but that Assad could not stay. After speaking to the Assembly, the two presidents met for an hour and a half, after which Putin returned to Moscow, lamenting that U.S.-Russia relations were “regretfully at a rather low level.” Even so, the two reportedly discussed potential information sharing and agreed to maintain open lines of communication to prevent any military accidents; and that's apparently a timely thing, too, as the BBC reports that Moscow is considering pursuing anti-ISIS airstrikes. Defense One suggests that while military de-confliction may be necessary, it remains unclear whether there will be further cooperation between the two countries in Syria.
A series of other world leaders weighed in on the Syrian conflict. French President François Hollande commented that “[i]f Saudi Arabia and Iran can find agreement on the future of Syria, then there can be an answer.” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu added that there could be no peace while Assad remained in power. Elsewhere, a U.N. panel condemned the Syrian government’s use of barrel bombs. The Guardian discusses the various positions held by major countries on the Syria question.
And after a day filled with talks about Syria, the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko addressed the U.N General Assembly earlier today, virulently condemning Russia for its aggression in his country. Poroshenko also "live-tweeted" his remarks.
And as the United States moves to de-conflict with Moscow in Syria, the Marine Corps is consideringtraining local troops to fight against the Russian-backed separatists in Eastern Europe. An earlier plan had aimed only at training Ukrainian national guardsmen.
President Obama also announced plans to host a terrorism summit on how to combat the Islamic State. He also urged other countries to recommit to peacekeeping missions. In this vein, President Xi Jinping surprised the Assembly by pledging $100 million as well as thousands of troops towards a permanent African Union peacekeeping force. In addition, the Times reports that Xi is pledging a “$1 billion donation to the United Nations for a ‘peace and development fund.’”
Back to ISIS: In a new effort to dissuade foreigners from joining the Islamic State, the United States is turning to the screenwriter for Zero Dark Thirty. William McCants comments that while “reaching out to Hollywood makes sense in principle...this sort of thing usually ends up with executives from DC and Hollywood high-fiving each other and throwing around some cringeworthy ideas.” Other propsoals involve working with Snapchat and HBO to counter the Islamic State’s information war. Worth reflecting on: This thought piece, shared by McCants, on how the terror group could manage to “get a country of its own.”
ISIS claimed responsibility for the murder of Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. Bangladeshi authorities have found no evidence to verify the claim and urged the public to let them make a proper investigation. Islamic extremism has been on the rise in Bangladesh, but targeted attacks against foreigners have so far been rare.
In a contrast to some less successful U.S. initiatives against the Islamic State, “a dedicated manhunt”coordinated by the CIA, the NSA, and the Joint Special Operations Command has tracked down a number of senior militants in Iraq and Syria. The Associated Press has the story.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani praised the P5+1 nuclear deal as a global diplomatic victory, and suggested that the accord could lay groundwork for a broader engagement with the United States.The New York Times notes the relatively more conciliatory tone, considering the worlds of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (The latter has sworn off further cooperation with his American counterparts.) On a related note, P5+1 foreign ministers met to discuss implementation of the Iran deal, which, the Journal notes, diplomats hope to complete in early 2016.
In Yemen, the civilian death toll has surpassed 2300. Al Jazeera reports on the casualties, and on a Saudi airstrike on a wedding, which Saudi officials say had targeted a man linked to Houthi rebels. The latter assault killed over 130 people. Saudi Arabia had been attempting to stall a U.N. push to investigate human rights abuses and war crimes in the conflict, but the strike is likely to add more fuel for those supporting the investigation.
The U.S. mission to the European Union has fired back at European Court of Justice’s adviser, Yves Bot, who wrote an opinion for the court arguing that the Safe Harbor agreement did not do enough to protect the privacy of E.U. citizens. According to the U.S. mission, that opinion “rests on numerous inaccurate assertions about intelligence practice of the United States.” Reuters has more.
The New York Times reports that Washington, Utah, and Virginia each have recently approved legislation requiring law enforcement officers to get a court ordered warrant for the use of stingrays---a “cell-site simulator” that forces mobile phone to connect to the device and then allows it to track criminal suspects.
Parting shot: Edward Snowden has launched his own Twitter account. You’ll be pleased to know what while he “used to work for the government,” he now "work[s] for the public.” The one account he follows? But of course, the NSA.
ICYMI: Yesterday, on Lawfare
Ben weighed in on the recent U.S.-China Cyber agreement not to conduct commercial espionage,offering a suggestion for how Congress can play a constructive role.
David Kris offered some preliminary thoughts on cross-border data requests and how the international community can reconcile diverging legal requirements to promote trade, privacy, and security.
Ben also alerted us to the news that the D.C. Circuit has granted en banc review in the latest round of al Bahlul litigation.
Bruce Jones discussed “Xi on the global stage” and the “costs of leadership.”
Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us onTwitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job openings on our Job Board.
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Observers Have Doubts About US-China Rules on Air Encounters by webdesk@voanews.com (Li Bao)
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