Russian Warships Fire Missiles at Syria

 

Russia launches missiles at 'Isil targets' from Caspian warships as Assad forces start ground offensive. Turkey condemns Russian activity as intense air strikes in western Syria are accompanied by Assad regime ground offensive for first time. Russian warships in the Caspian Sea have launched dozens of missiles into Syria, sharply escalating a military campaign to shield the regime from rebel forces. Travelling more than 900 miles, the missiles struck 11 targets inside the war-torn country, officials said.

In the video apparently showing their launch, bright white lights seared through the sky, trailed by thick plumes of smoke. Moscow's missiles added additional force to airstrikes backing a Syrian regime ground offensive in four locations across the provinces of Hama and Idlib on Wednesday. The deployment of cruise missiles and air strikes marked a significant escalation of the campaign to shield the regime from rebel forces which began in earnest last week.

It was the first time operations had been openly coordinated with forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, one of the Kremlin’s only remaining allies in the Middle East. Vladmir Putin, the Russian president, said his military's efforts "will be synchronised with the actions of the Syrian army on the ground and the actions of our air force will effectively support the offensive operation of the Syrian army", at a televised meeting with Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister.

The Turkish prime minister claimed earlier on Wednesday that so far only two out of 57 Russian airstrikes over Syria have hit Isil positions. Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkish intelligence assessments showed that the rest had hit rebel groups backed by Turkey and the United States.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described Wednesday's fighting as "the most intense fighting in months", launched from the town of Morek on the highway that links the capital Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and former commercial center.

Rebels have controlled areas on the highway since 2012. US and Russian officials held discussions last week – at Russia's request – on establishing measures to avoid accidents so warplanes flying over Syria would not be in the same place at the same time.

The so-called "deconfliction" talks came after Russia started bombing in support of Mr Assad, further complicating the four-and-a-half-year conflict. Russian jets carried out air strikes on 12 Isil sites in Syria on Tuesday.

Why is Russia bombing Syria?

Russia says the strikes are to defeat Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). But most of their first strikes have been against non-Isil groups who are opposed to President Assad’s regime.              

Why would Russia bomb non-Isil groups?

 

Russia’s spokesmen are sometimes vague - referring to Isil and terrorists in the same breath. By “terrorists” they mean the same as President Bashar al-Assad - anyone part of the armed opposition. And it so happens that the gravest threat to the regime’s core areas comes from non-Isil rebels.

 

What is Russia’s position on President Assad?

 

President Putin says he believes the survival of the Assad regime is very important. This is why it make sense for Russia to target non-Isil groups, who pose the greatest threat to the Syrian regime, first.

 

Are the non-Isil groups being bombed terrorists?

 

They cover a spectrum of opposition groups: from an alliance called Jaish al-Fatah - Army of Conquest - to "moderate” brigades backed and even, according to one account, trained, by the US. Jaish al-Fatah is made up of hardline groups that include Jabhat al-Nusra, which is aligned to al-Qaeda, so they are formally designated by the West and the United Nations as terrorist.

 

What will happen next?

 

All eyes are watching to see whether these bombing raids are followed up by a ground offensive. 

 

Aganin said Russia wants whoever is fighting the Islamic State to join forces because eliminating the radical group would improve prospects for a political solution in Syria. “It’s in the mutual interest of the Syrian army and the moderate opposition” to fight the Islamic State, “and we are ready to support both if we have a point of contact,” Melnik said.

The United States has said it is willing to hold "technical" talks with Russia to avoid a mishap between coalition and Russian pilots. However, the White House has said it would not coordinate more broadly with the Russians unless they agreed to a political transition that would remove Assad from power.