US-backed Syrian rebels say they have

been hit by Russian airstrikes

Commander of group that has received CIA training says camp in Idlib
province was struck by about 20 missiles in two separate sorties

Object 1

Smoke rises after airstrikes in Talbiseh, Homs province, on Wednesday.

Kareem Shaheen in Beirut and Matthew Weaver andSaeed Kamali

Dehghan in London-Thursday 1 October 2015

US-backed rebels in Syria say they were hit by Russian airstrikes on

Thursday, on the second day of Russias air campaign over the country.
The commander of the Liwa Suqour al-Jabal rebel group, which has received
training by the CIA, says a training camp in Idlib province was struck by
about 20 missiles in two separate sorties.
Hassan Haj Ali, a Syrian army captain who defected after the uprising
against President Bashar al-Assad, said some of the guards of the facility
were slightly wounded in the attack.
Russia is challenging everyone and saying there is no alternative to
Bashar, he said.
The Russian defence ministry said its planes hit 12 Islamic State targets,

including a command centre and two arms depots, although the areas
where it said the strikes took place are not held by Isis.
Syrian activists reported a number of airstrikes in the countrys north and
centre, including in the province of Hama, which they said hit locations
controlled by another US-backed rebel group, Tajamu Alezzah.
Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese pro-Assad TV channel, separately reported that
Russian aircraft had launched 30 fresh airstrikes against Jaysh al-Fateh, a
powerful rebel coalition that includes Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Qaida
affiliated al-Nusra Front.
Jaysh al-Fateh conquered much of north-west Syria in a major offensive this
spring, including Jisr al-Shughour, ousting the Assad regime from the area
and inching closer to its coastal stronghold of Latakia.
Activists in Homs also claimed that a Russian airstrike targeted a road near
Talbiseh, a village that had been hit the day before.
In a dramatic escalation of the conflict, Russia launched a series of
airstrikes on Wednesday that it said were aimed at Isis terrorists but which
mainly appeared to hit less extreme groups fighting Assads regime.
On Thursday, the Russian line appeared to change, with a spokesman for
Vladimir Putin saying that Russiawas going after a list of groups in addition
to Isis.
These organisations are well known and the targets are chosen in
coordination with the armed forces of Syria, the spokesman said, without
giving names.
Syrian civil defence volunteers put the total civilian death toll from
Wednesdays strikes on Homs and Hama at 40, including eight children.
The volunteer group said thermobaric missiles were used and claimed that
they struck a public market, bread distribution point and administrative
buildings in Homs, as well as civilian homes.
We cant believe an even more advanced military power has arrived in

Syria to kill civilians, said one civil defence volunteer in a statement issued
by his organisation.
Syrian rebels launched attacks in northern Homs against Assad regime
troops and pro-government civilian neighbourhoods using Grad rockets in
what they said was retaliation for Russian airstrikes.
Videos posted by a conservative rebel coalition in northern Homs showed
rebel fighters launching rockets and artillery.
Sergei Lavrov, Russias foreign minister, had earlier dismissed reports of
targeting non-Isis positions, describing the rumours as unfounded.
Our targets are solely the positions of objects and equipment belonging to
the armed terrorist group Isil [Isis], Russia Today quoted Lavrov as saying.
Lavrov said Moscow had asked American officials to back up their
accusations ofRussia not targeting Isis with firm evidence. They expressed
doubt, arguing that there is evidence, which we asked [them] to show us,
because we stand by our targets, Lavrov said.
Talk began that civilians were hurt by airstrikes. We have no such data, he
said. We carefully make sure that these target strikes are precise.

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Lavrov: Dont listen to Pentagon about Russian strikes

The US defence secretary, Ashton Carter, described Wednesdays strikes as

illogical and doomed to fail, telling reporters: It does appear that they
[the Russian airstrikes] were in areas where there were not Isil forces and
this is precisely one of the problems with this approach.
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, suggested he was prepared to
welcome Russian military action in Syria only if it was directed against Isis.
Appearing alongside Lavrov after their UN meeting, he said: It is one thing
obviously to be targeting Isil. Were concerned, obviously, that is not what is
happening.
Kerry and Lavrov agreed that Russian and US military commanders would
set up deconfliction talks to try to ensure their air forces did not
inadvertently clash while they conducted overlapping air campaigns.
Lavrov said Russian and US officials would soon get in touch and establish
channels of communications to avoid any unintended incidents.
The US was informed of Russias plans to launch strikes on Syria an hour
before they occurred. The Department of State spokesman John Kirby said a
Russian official in Baghdad had told US embassy personnel that Russian
military aircraft would shortly begin flying anti-Isis missions in Syria. The
official also asked that US aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during those
missions.
Although the Obama administration defiantly vowed to continue its own
bombing operations in Syria - and took umbrage at Russias insistence on
Wednesday that the US ground its aircraft the US military revealed on
Thursday that it launched only a single airstrike in the wake of the Russian
campaign. The strike, in Mara, north of Aleppo, destroyed two Isis
excavators, according to the US Central Command.
By contrast, on 30 September, the US launched 21 airstrikes in
neighbouring Iraq.
Iran officially threw its weight behind the Russian campaign on Thursday. A
foreign ministry spokeswoman quoted by the Irna state news agency said
Moscow had her countrys full support in the strikes against what she
described as terrorist groups.

Saudi Arabia, Irans regional rival, and Turkey, which is at odds with Tehran
over Assads fate, are unhappy about the Russian involvement. Iran has
played an instrumental role in propping up Assads regime by supplying him
with financial and military support. Syria was the only Arab country that
supported Tehran during the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq in 1980s
and the country is strategically located, giving Tehran an access route to its
regional allies, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Posted by Thavam