Russia Carries Out First Air Strikes in Syria: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia has launched its first air strikes against terrorist targets in Syria, a US official said, hours of the parliament gave a formal consent to President Vladimir Putin to use the nation’s military in Syria to fight terrorism at a request from the Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The United States has indications that Russia has started carrying out airstrikes in the vicinity of Homs in Syria, a US official said, Sputnik News reported Wednesday.
Unverified footage posted to YouTube, meanwhile, claimed to show Russian jets in the skies above Syria.
Russian lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday to let Putin conduct airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (IAIL) positions in Syria. Kremlin said it would only use its air force in the war-torn country, not ground troops.
Russia made the decision after considering that a large number of citizens of Russia and neighboring countries had gone to join terrorist groups fighting in Syria.
Kremlin said on Wednesday that unlike the US-led coalition of countries that bombs militant troops in Syria, Russia was invited to do so by the legal authorities of Syria and thus follows international law.