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Friday 02 Oct 2015 - 19:16 Makkah mean time-19-12-1436
(Image from Anadolu)
New York, (IINA) - A group of Western and Gulf allies urged Russia on Thursday to immediately stop its airstrikes on Syrian opposition forces and civilians, Anadolu Agency reported.
A joint statement released by the group said: "We express our deep concern with regard to the Russian military build-up in Syria and especially the attacks by the Russian Air Force on Hama, Homs and Idlib since yesterday (Wednesday) which led to civilian casualties and did not target Daesh (ISIS)".
The statement added: "These military actions constitute a further escalation and will only fuel more extremism and radicalization".
According to the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed opposition alliance, the Russian airstrikes resulted in the deaths of 36 civilians, including five children.
The Syrian Coalition leader Khaled Khoja said that the areas targeted by Russia were free of any Daesh or Al-Qaeda presence.
Countries that signed in the statement were Britain, France, Germany, Qatar, Turkey, United States and Saudi Arabia, all of which take part in the international counter-Daesh coalition led by the U.S.
On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied the “allegation” that his country’s airstrikes were aimed at non-Daesh positions, saying that Russia was targeting only the same terror groups as the coalition.
Syria’s devastating civil war, now in its fifth year, has claimed more than 250,000 lives, according to UN figures, and made the country the world's single-largest source of refugees and displaced people.
AG/IINA
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