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Russia Carries Out Airstrikes in Syria for 2nd Day Russia Carries Out Airstrikes in Syria for 2nd Day
(about 1 hour later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a second day of raids in Syria, Russian warplanes carried out a new round of airstrikes on Thursday in the northwestern province of Idlib that targeted not the Islamic State but a rival insurgent coalition, according to accounts from journalists and activists. BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a second day of raids in Syria, Russian warplanes carried out a new round of airstrikes on Thursday that — contrary to Moscow’s assertions — appeared to be targeting not the Islamic State but a rival insurgent coalition.
Russia’s entry into the Syrian conflict, which started on Wednesday with a bombing attack on Syrian opposition fighters, has been angrily condemned by United States officials. They fear that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is using their shared goal of defeating the Islamic State as a pretext for weakening other opponents of Syria’s embattled president, Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Putin says that Mr. Assad is a bulwark against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL; President Obama says that Mr. Assad must go.Russia’s entry into the Syrian conflict, which started on Wednesday with a bombing attack on Syrian opposition fighters, has been angrily condemned by United States officials. They fear that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is using their shared goal of defeating the Islamic State as a pretext for weakening other opponents of Syria’s embattled president, Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Putin says that Mr. Assad is a bulwark against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL; President Obama says that Mr. Assad must go.
On Thursday, Al Mayadeen, a Lebanon-based news channel that leans toward the Syrian government, reported that Russia was targeting “a known list of terrorist organizations” that it had agreed on with the Syrian Army. The strikes on Thursday appeared to target the Army of Conquest, a coalition of insurgent groups that includes the Nusra Front, the hard-line Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham, and a range of less extreme Islamist groups — all of which are opposed to the Islamic State.
Mostapha al-Nayrab, an antigovernment activist in Idlib Province, said that Russian warplanes had bombed many areas in the south and west of the province, hitting both insurgent bases and a mosque where five civilians were killed. Russian officials nonetheless insisted that they had hit four “objects of the Islamic State” in the provinces of Idlib, Hama and Homs. The Islamic State is most active in areas significantly to the east of those regions. Russia, like Mr. Assad, has tended to make little distinction among the many insurgent groups in Syria’s four-year-old civil war.
Russian officials, however, insisted that they had hit four “objects of the Islamic State”: a “terrorist headquarters” and arms depot near the city of Idlib; a three-story command bunker near Hama, a city about 60 miles to the south; and a bomb factory in Homs Province, which is farther to the south. The airstrikes began on Wednesday to the north and northeast of the city of Homs. The Islamic State has been most active in areas significantly to the east of those areas. The Russian airstrikes, a major new twist in the war, come after a series of setbacks that had put Mr. Assad in his shakiest position in years.
The Russian state news agency RIA reported that airstrikes by the Syrian military, which is working with the Russian Air Force, had killed 107 militants, including three commanders of the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, near Homs. Government forces lost ground in recent months not only to the Islamic State in the east and center of the country, but also to the rival Army of Conquest in the northwest, where its advances have posed the war’s sharpest threat to the coastal provinces that are Mr. Assad’s base.
Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian Senate, denied the charge that Russia was overlooking Islamic State targets and instead attacking other opponents of Mr. Assad’s. “There is no evidence able to prove these groundless claims that are being spread today,” he said. By striking at the group, Russia is unlikely to be able to give Mr. Assad full control over the country, but could help him buy time, extending the deadly standoff — and prompting United States allies, like Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to pour more matériel into the conflict.
The strikes on Thursday targeted the Army of Conquest, a coalition of insurgent groups that includes the Nusra Front, the hard-line Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham, and a range of less extreme Islamist groups — all of which are opposed to the Islamic State.
Often fighting alongside the Army of Conquest are relatively secular groups from what is left of the loose-knit Free Syrian Army, including some that have received United States training and advanced American-made antitank missiles. At least one C.I.A.-trained group was among the targets hit on Wednesday, which drew an angry response from Washington.Often fighting alongside the Army of Conquest are relatively secular groups from what is left of the loose-knit Free Syrian Army, including some that have received United States training and advanced American-made antitank missiles. At least one C.I.A.-trained group was among the targets hit on Wednesday, which drew an angry response from Washington.
This year, the Army of Conquest dealt Syrian forces a serious setback by seizing the city of Idlib, and later the entire province, advances that posed the war’s sharpest threat to the coastal areas where support for Mr. Assad is strongest. Russia has a naval station on the coast and has concentrated much of its recent military buildup there. This year, the Army of Conquest dealt Syrian forces a serious setback by seizing the city of Idlib, and later the entire province, advances that posed the war’s sharpest threat to the coastal areas where support for Mr. Assad is strongest. Russia has a naval station on the coast and has concentrated much of its recent military buildup there as well, so Thursday’s strike could be seen as a force-protection measure, taking out the insurgents closest to Russian installations before moving on to other operations.
For critics of the Russian action, the imprecision in Moscow in the accounts of the targeting decisions in the first day of the Russian air assaults seemed intentional, bearing out fears in Western governments that the Kremlin, as it enters the Syrian conflict, would follow on the heels of Mr. Assad’s government in conflating antigovernment fighters with terrorists. There have also been reports from insurgents on the ground that extremist groups of Russian-speaking fighters have moved into the mountains straddling Idlib and Latakia, including Jaish al-Muhajireen Wal Ansar, which includes many Chechens. Russia has fought two wars with its semiautonomous republic of Chechnya, and many Chechens and other Russian Muslims from the Caucasus Mountains and Central Asia have joined the Islamic State or other gropus in Syria. Russia’s concern about the more than 2,000 Russian citizens who have fought in Syria — and who might later launch attacks back home — is another reason for its intervention.
The choice of targets underscored a fundamental dispute between the United States and its allies, like Saudi Arabia, on one side and Mr. Assad and his allies, Russia and Iran, on the other. But the choice of target underlined a fundamental dispute between the United States, its allies, and Syrian opponents of Mr. Assad on one hand, and Mr. Assad and Russia on the other.
The Russian state news agency RIA reported on Thursday that airstrikes by the Syrian military, which is working with the Russian Air Force, had killed 107 militants, including three commanders of the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, near Homs.
But Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian Senate, denied the charge that Russia was overlooking Islamic State targets and instead attacking other opponents of Mr. Assad’s. “There is no evidence able to prove these groundless claims that are being spread today,” he said.
Mr. Assad, and now Russia, make little distinction among Islamist insurgent groups, and their supporters suggest that any such distinctions are meaningless hairsplitting. United States policy appears to reflect an acknowledgment that the Nusra Front and its allies — while many of them are unpalatable — often clash with the Islamic State and have differing goals and tactics.Mr. Assad, and now Russia, make little distinction among Islamist insurgent groups, and their supporters suggest that any such distinctions are meaningless hairsplitting. United States policy appears to reflect an acknowledgment that the Nusra Front and its allies — while many of them are unpalatable — often clash with the Islamic State and have differing goals and tactics.
The Syrian uprising began in 2011 with peaceful protests and turned violent in response to repression by the government. But relatively secular groups led by army defectors have been eclipsed by better-financed, better-organized Islamist groups.The Syrian uprising began in 2011 with peaceful protests and turned violent in response to repression by the government. But relatively secular groups led by army defectors have been eclipsed by better-financed, better-organized Islamist groups.
In the United States, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter have denounced Russia’s first round of airstrikes, pointing out that even as Russian pilots did not hit known strongholds of the group. Instead, they targeted areas held by other insurgents, including some American-trained ones, in strikes that killed 40 people, including some civilians.In the United States, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter have denounced Russia’s first round of airstrikes, pointing out that even as Russian pilots did not hit known strongholds of the group. Instead, they targeted areas held by other insurgents, including some American-trained ones, in strikes that killed 40 people, including some civilians.
But the Army of Conquest itself embodies the ambivalence of American policy. The United States considers the Nusra Front a terrorist organization, but other groups, including some that have received American funding, fight alongside Nusra, saying that they have no choice if they want to unseat Mr. Assad.But the Army of Conquest itself embodies the ambivalence of American policy. The United States considers the Nusra Front a terrorist organization, but other groups, including some that have received American funding, fight alongside Nusra, saying that they have no choice if they want to unseat Mr. Assad.
The United States has been reluctant to increase support to those groups because some weapons have ended up in the hands of the Nusra Front, and Washington does not want to see the militant group take over Syria any more than it wants the Islamic State to take power.The United States has been reluctant to increase support to those groups because some weapons have ended up in the hands of the Nusra Front, and Washington does not want to see the militant group take over Syria any more than it wants the Islamic State to take power.