Russia begins airstrikes in Syria; opposition says rebels were hit

MOSCOW _ Russia said Wednesday it had begun airstrikes against the Islamic State terrorist group in war-torn Syria, but the Syrian opposition alleged that the raids had hit territory held by other rebel groups and killed civilians.tmpplchld In Washington, the White House said it was “too early” to say what targets the Russians sought to strike and which targets were hit, but that the Pentagon was looking into the Russian military activities.tmpplchld U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said it appeared Russian airstrikes hit areas where there probably were not Islamic State forces. He called Russia’s activity in Syria a “fallacy” that is “doomed to failure,” but said it was still possible for Russia to play a constructive role in ending the fighting.tmpplchld Syrian state media and opposition representatives both reported Russian strikes in areas of central Syria where other rebel forces including the Syrian branch of al-Qaida _ but not Islamic State _ are thought to operate.tmpplchld U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia and the U.S. will begin military talks “as soon as possible, perhaps even as soon as tomorrow” to de-escalate the situation, after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov late Wednesday in New York.tmpplchld Moscow announced the action within hours of the Russian Parliament unanimously approving President Vladimir Putin’s request to use military force in Syria, after the Syrian government asked for help.tmpplchld The strikes targeted Islamic State military equipment, weapons stockpiles, communication hubs and means of transportation, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman told the Interfax news agency.tmpplchld Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the Russian Air Force hit “Islamic State dens” around the towns of Talbiseh, Rastan and Salamiya north of the central city of Homs.tmpplchld Rebel groups hostile to the Islamic State group control the area around Talbiseh and Rastan, while both rebels and Islamic State operate in areas near Salamiya.tmpplchld Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of the al-Qaida terrorist network, has recently claimed attacks against government-held villages in the area.tmpplchld The Syrian opposition National Coalition denounced the Russian airstrikes.tmpplchld “All the targets in today’s Russian air raid over northern Homs were civilians,” National Coalition president Khaled Khoja wrote on Twitter.tmpplchld Khoja said 36 civilians had been killed in areas held by neither al-Qaida nor Islamic State forces.tmpplchld A rebel group called Tajammu al-Izza, which says it opposes both Islamic State and al-Qaida, said one of its bases had been hit in the Russian strikes.tmpplchld The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, said that 27 civilians, including 10 children, were killed in airstrikes in the areas mentioned by SANA. The observatory was unable to confirm who carried out the strikes.tmpplchld The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced such reports as part of a media campaign against Moscow and reiterated that operations are being conducted at the request of the Syrian government.tmpplchld “Russia wasn’t able to unfold its operation against the Islamic State ... and (Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov wasn’t able to say a word at the U.N. Security Council, before there were numerous dumpings in the mass media that during the Russian operation civilians are dying, and that the operation is directed at the country’s democratic forces,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, according to Interfax.tmpplchld “This is all an informational attack, a war.”tmpplchld Kerry told the U.N. Security Council that the United States would have “grave concerns” about Moscow’s intentions if Russian military strikes in Syria are not targeting Islamic State.tmpplchld Kerry stressed that the United States would welcome a “genuine commitment” by Russia to defeat Islamic State, but “we must not and will not be confused in our fight against ISIL with support for Assad.”tmpplchld Putin, in televised comments, said the support would be conducted from the air without participation in ground operations.tmpplchld The United States said a Russian official in Baghdad informed the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday that Russian military aircraft would begin flying anti-Islamic State missions over Syria.tmpplchld The Russian official requested that U.S. aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during those missions, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said.tmpplchld “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 said.tmpplchld An estimated 250,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, according to the United Nations. More than half of Syria’s prewar population of 22.4 million has been internally displaced or fled abroad.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)tmpplchld Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.htmltmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld