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Russia and US sign 'memorandum' to avoid each other while bombing Syria Tens of thousands flee Aleppo following latest wave of airstrikes in Syria
(about 1 hour later)
The United States and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes air safety measures so pilots from the two countries steer clear of each other as they conduct separate bombing campaigns, the Pentagon has said. Tens of thousands have fled new regime offensives in Syria, according to the UN, as the total number of casualties from Russian airstrikes so far was reported to have reached 370, many of them civilians.
The Pentagon press secretary, Peter Cook, said the document was signed earlier in the day and took immediate effect. With the Russian bombing campaign now in its fourth week, Moscow and Washington announced on Tuesday that they had agreed to measures to ensure air safety over Syria, where a US-led coalition is also carrying out strikes.
“There’s a series of protocols in place that effectively are intended to avoid any sort of risk of a midair incident between our air crews and Russian air crews,” Cook said. The exodus was focused south of second city Aleppo, one of five areas where loyalist forces have launched offensives since Russia began its air war on 30 September.
“If they follow these protocols, we should not have the risk of engagement with Russian air crews over Syria.” “Around 35,000 people are reported to have been displaced from ... the south-western outskirts of Aleppo city, following government offensives,” said Vanessa Huguenin, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Moscow also reported that both countries had signed the memorandum. She said many “urgently need food and basic household and shelter items” as the weather gets colder.
“With today’s signatures, the memorandum of understanding is now in effect,” Cook told reporters on Tuesday. “That was signed a short time ago, earlier today.” Syria’s war has killed more than 250,000 people and forced millions from their homes since March 2011, recently triggering a mass migration of refugees that has raised tensions in Europe.
Separately, Russian media reported that the memorandum had been signed by officials in Moscow and the US. To reduce the risk of a confrontations between Russian warplanes and others from a US-led coalition bombing Syria, Moscow and Washington announced an understanding on safety measures.
“The memorandum contains a number of rules and restrictions aimed at preventing incidents between American and Russian planes,” the Russian deputy defense minister, Anatoly Antonov, said, according to Ria-Novosti. “There’s a series of protocols in place that effectively are intended to avoid any sort of risk of a midair incident between our air crews and Russian air crews,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.
Related: 'Deconflict': buzzword to prevent risk of a US-Russian clash over Syria In Moscow, a deputy defence minister, Anatoly Antonov, said “the memorandum contains a number of rules and restrictions aimed at preventing incidents”.
The Pentagon says Russia had initially asked for “deconfliction” talks with the US after Moscow began bombing Syria on 30 September in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Russia has carried out more than 500 air raids in support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
US defense officials were furious after they only got a vague warning from Moscow about an hour before Russia began its bombing campaign. Russian airstrikes were reported to have so far killed 370 people, including more than 120 civilians, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Cook said the memorandum establishes several protocols aimed at maintaining professional airmanship, as well as the use of radio frequencies and the creation of a secondary line of communication on the ground. Among them were 45 rebels and civilians killed on Monday in Russian strikes in the north of government stronghold Latakia province, it said.
However, he was quick to stress that the understanding did not signal broader agreement with Russia’s Syria strategy. Dozens were also wounded Monday in some of the deadliest raids yet, and the commander of a moderate rebel brigade was among the dead, the Observatory said.
“The MOU does not establish zones of cooperation, intelligence-sharing or any sharing of target information in Syria,” he said. In Moscow, the defence ministry said Russian warplanes had hit 60 targets of Isis and the al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra front in the past 24 hours, including a munitions factory in eastern Deir Ezzor province.
“We continue to believe that Russia’s strategy in Syria is counterproductive and their support for the Assad regime will only make Syria’s civil war worse.” Russian president Vladimir Putin said the air war demonstrated Moscow could counter any terrorist threats.
The US is leading a 60-plus-member coalition targeting Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria and has been carrying out frequent raids for more than a year. “The operation has confirmed that Russia is ready to adequately and effectively respond to terrorist and any other threats to our country,” he said.
Russia also claims to be targeting Isis and other “terrorists” but the Pentagon says it is hitting non-Isis rebels fighting government forces loyal to Assad. The Observatory said Russian strikes had targeted Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and Idlib provinces.
Earlier Tuesday, a CNN report said Russian planes had twice in the last two weeks flown very close to coalition planes – within 500ft, in one instance. As many as 100,000 people were fleeing the army’s ground assaults in Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces, it said.
“The Russians need to abide by these flight safety protocols that they have now agreed to because we don’t want miscalculations or misunderstanding,” Cook said when asked about the report. Syrian activist Maamun al-Khatieb said thousands had fled fierce Russian bombardment and “the fear that Iranian militias would storm their villages”.
Iran, a key Assad ally, has reportedly sent hundreds of troops to fight alongside his forces.
Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial hub, has been a key focus of the fighting. Since 2012 the city has been divided between government forces and rebels.
Related: Russia paves way for Assad regime’s Iranian-backed advance on Aleppo
On Friday, government forces began a new offensive south of the city, attacking areas near the strategic highway to Damascus.
The Observatory said regime forces had seized five villages in the area since the offensive began.
But al-Watan daily, which is close to the regime, said the army had taken 16 villages and an area totalling some 100 square km (40 square miles).
It said the operation would “cut militant reinforcement routes between south Aleppo province and east Idlib province and take the international highway from Aleppo to Hama”.
The Aleppo-Damascus highway via Hama and Homs provinces appears to be the main target of several of the recent offensives.
In Hama, much of the fighting has centred on an area close to the road, and in Homs the government has been fighting to take villages along the highway just north of the provincial capital.
In Homs, thousands of people have fled from a string of villages since the army offensive there began Thursday, said Hassaan Abu Nuh, an activist in the town of Talbisseh.
“They’ve spread throughout the outskirts of Homs ... those who left took whatever they could carry,” he told AFP via the internet.
There has also been heavy fighting for the Sahl al-Ghab region between Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces, with troops seeking to prevent rebels who control Idlib province from being able to attack Latakia.
Russia insists its air campaign is intended to target the Islamic State group and others it describes as “terrorists”.
But rebels and their backers accuse Russia of striking moderates and Islamists rather than just jihadists.