Russia launches airstrikes in Syria, says targeting IS

Russia launches airstrikes in Syria, says targeting IS
Posted:
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 3:48 AM EDT

By NATALIYA VASILYEVA


MOSCOW (AP) - Russian military jets carried out airstrikes in Syria for the first time on Wednesday, targeting what Moscow said were Islamic State positions. U.S. officials and others cast doubt on that claim, saying the Russians appeared to be attacking opposition groups fighting Syrian government forces.

President Vladimir Putin sought to portray the airstrikes as a pre-emptive attack against the Islamic militants who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq. Russia estimates at least 2,400 of its own citizens are already fighting alongside extremists in Syria and Iraq.

"If they (militants) succeed in Syria, they will return to their home country, and they will come to Russia, too," Putin said in a televised speech at a government session.

The U.S. and Russia both agree on the need to fight Islamic State, but are in dispute about what to do about Syrian President Bashar Assad's government. At the U.N. General Assembly, President Barack Obama said the U.S. and Russia could work together on a political transition, but only if Assad leaving power was the result. Putin is Assad's most powerful backer.

The Russian airstrikes targeted positions, vehicles and warehouses that Moscow believes belong to IS militants, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies.

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