Highlight
- The United States on Thursday 8th said that four Russian cruise missiles aimed at targets in Syria crashed in Iran.
- This adds to a series of accusations that the western powers, the US backed coalition intervening in the Syrian crisis have leveled against Moscow, which launched its offensives in Syria last month.
- Russia has however refuted the latest claims, saying that the missiles were intended for, and hit Syria.
Summary
In addition to claims that Russian missiles did not target Syria, the US has said that deadly weapons were among a salvo fired Wednesday from Russian warships targeting political enemies of President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia said all the shots were on target, and the Defence ministry posted a graphic on its website showing 26 missiles flying over Iran and Iraq before striking inside Syria.
Russia’s air force hit 27 terrorist targets in central and northern Syria Wednesday night, including eight IS strongholds in Homs province and 11 training camps in Hama and Raqa provinces.
So far, at least 13 regime fighters and 11 rebels have been killed and Russian participation seems to be gaining support by observatory groups and civilians in Syria.
Backed by allied militia and Russian air cover, regime troops have retaken around a dozen villages in Hama.
It could be because of the backing by the regime’s allied militia that NATO powers find the basis to allege that Russia is committed to a campaign that primarily seeks to prop up Bashar al-Assad embattled regime against a much broader group of rebels.
