Russia Begins First Airstrikes In Syria Against Assad Enemies

Russia has conducted its first airstrike against ISIS in Syria, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said Today, Wednesday September 30th.

The airstrike targeted ISIS military equipment, communications centers, vehicles and ammunition, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, as part of pinpoint strikes against ISIS ground targets.

But a senior U.S. administration official told CNN's Elise Labott the Russian airstrike near the city of Homs "has no strategic purpose" in terms of combating ISIS, which "shows they are not there to go after ISIL." ISIL is another acronym for ISIS.

The official said the U.S. had no intention of preventing the strikes but that Russian planes didn't seem to be flying in areas where the U.S. was operating. "They are not stupid," the official said.

The State Department said U.S.-led coalition missions were continuing as normal despite an advance warning and request from Russia to stay out of Syrian airspace.

"A Russian official in Baghdad this morning informed U.S. Embassy personnel that Russian military aircraft would begin flying anti-ISIL missions today over Syria," said spokesman John Kirby. "He further requested that U.S. aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during these missions."

A senior U.S. defense official told CNN the Pentagon was "taken aback" by Russia's actions. "Our presidents just talked about setting up de-confliction talks and now they just go ahead and do this? They cannot be trusted."

A second U.S. official said: "This is not how military relations are conducted, by banging on the door of our embassy and reading a note."

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook had told reporters Tuesday that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter directed his staff to "open lines of communication with Russia on de-confliction." The purpose of discussions would be "to ensure the safety of coalition air crews," he said.

Credit:NYTimes