- Russian aircraft carried out a third day of airstrikes against Syrian rebels
- Moscow says it is targeting ISIS, but US and allies suspect attacks are aimed at keeping in power Assad under the guise of fighting 'terrorism'
- US has said Russia must 'not be engaged' against anyone but ISIS
- Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his French counterpart today
Published:
09:37 GMT, 2 October 2015
|
Updated:
11:50 GMT, 2 October 2015
The White
House has urged the Russian military to focus its airstrikes on ISIS
terrorists amid fears Russia is carrying out 'indiscriminate' attacks on
Syrian rebel forces.
Russian
combat aircraft carried out a third day of airstrikes against Syrian
militants as Moscow admitted it had targeted groups other than ISIS in
coordination with the government in Damascus.
This appears to support the widely held belief that Russia plans to prop up the bloody regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Western allies want him to stand aside to try and end the four-and-half year bloodshed.
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A grab takes from video footage from
the Russian Defence Ministry showing a strike carried out by Russian
warplanes in the Syrian territories - it said it was targeting ISIS, but
evidence has suggested otherwise
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Russian defence ministry said its planes hit 12 Isis targets, including a command centre and two arms depots
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Russian President Vladimir Putin will
meet Francois Hollande today in Paris where discussions concerning
Russia's attacks in Syria is sure to be high on the agenda
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Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would fight other terrorist
groups in the region including the al-Nusra Front - an al-Qaeda
affiliate.
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He
said this position was the same as that of the US-led coalition which
has been carrying out air strikes in Iraq and Syria for the past year.
Speaking at the UN in New York, he said: 'We are not supporting anyone against their own people. We fight terrorism'.
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Destruction: The aftermath of a
Russian airstrike on Talbiseh, in Syria, an area held by non-IS rebels.
Dozens of civilians were reported to have been killed, including
children
BUT WHO'S FIGHTING WHO?
Islamic State
A
mainly Sunni Islamist terror group, including tens of thousands of
foreign fighters, which has moved into large swathes of Syria.
Syrian government
Bashar
al-Assad is believed to have used chemical weapons against his people.
His government considers all rebel groups terrorists.
Moderate Syrian rebels
Backed by the West. Known as the Free Syrian Army.
JaBhat al-Nusra
An extremist rebel group affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
Hezbollah
Lebanon’s Shiite group Hezbollah, backed by Iran, fights with the Syrian army.
Islamic Front
An alliance of seven rebel groups who want to create an Islamic state but criticise IS for its brutal tactics.
US, UK and other coalition forces
The
coalition forces are fighting to defeat IS and oust Assad. Coalition
forces are in Turkey and Jordan training moderate Syrian rebels.
Russia
Vladimir Putin says Russia is attacking IS and supporting Assad. Evidence suggests it is attacking non-IS rebels.
Iran
Iranian
troops are to join government forces and Hezbollah in a ground
offensive backed by Russian air strikes. Iran wants to defeat IS and
prop up Assad.
Mr Lavrov said the targets were selected 'in co-ordination with the Syrian army'.
Alexei
Pushkov, the head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia's
parliament, claimed today the US had only 'pretended' to bomb ISIS and
said Russia's campaign would be much more effective.
The US has accused Russia of launching 'indiscriminate military operations against the Syrian opposition'.
Secretary
of State John Kerry said: 'What is important is Russia has to not be
engaged in any activities against anybody but ISIL. That's clear. We
have made that very clear'.
Mr Kerry said he foresaw further discussions with the Russians about air operations.
'It's
a way of making sure that planes aren't going to be shooting at each
other and making things worse,' he said in an interview late Thursday on
CBS' 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.'
He said 'if they're there to support the Assad regime, Russia will have made a catastrophic mistake.'
Mr Kerry said such a scenario would risk 'really inviting more jihadists to come into Syria.'
'What is happening is a catastrophe, a human catastrophe really unparalleled in modern times,' Mr Kerry told Colbert.
He
said Russia should help the US and other nations 'persuade Assad to be
the saver of his country not the killer of his country.'
Russian air strikes were reported to have hit Homs, Hama and Idlib provinces.
The
commander of a US-trained rebel group said one of its training camps in
Idlib province had been targeted by two Russian aircraft.
It
comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his French
counterpart Francois Hollande in Paris today, where Syria will be top of
the agenda.
Speaking
ahead of the meeting, Mr Hollande said it was important 'the strikes,
regardless of who is carrying them out, target Daesh (ISIS) and not
other groups'.
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