Russia launches new strikes against Syria

RUSSIA has launched new air strikes against Syria on Thursday October 1, as confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defence on Twitter, ‘Russian Aerospace Forces engaged another four #ISIS facilities in #Syria this night.’

In its second day of strikes Russia appears to be targeting any groups in opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

“Russians are fighting alongside the Syrians, to destroy not just ISIS but all of the other rebel groups in Syria,” the Syrian Ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad told CNN on Thursday.

The Ambassador said that the Syrian army and the Russian army are working side by side, sharing intelligence and data and working very closely together.

The US is said to be concerned that the strikes have mainly targeted non-Islamic State (IS) opponents of Assad. The US and Russia are planning talks to ensure their forces do not clash in Syria. 

The latest reports suggest that Thursday’s attacks targeted the areas in the Homs and Hama provinces as well as sites in the north-west.

Russia claimed to have hit 12 IS positions over the last 24 hours however this cannot be independently verified.