December 17, 2015

UK Foreign Secretary: Russian airstrikes in Syria helping ISIS advance

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Thursday 17 Dec 2015 - 18:47 Makkah mean time-6-3-1437

Pic: The Independent

London (IINA) – The UK has warned that the Russian air strikes in Syria are mostly targeting moderate rebels and are actually helping "the very ISIS forces they claim to be against", The Independent reported.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said pro-regime air support by Russia in the last two weeks had in fact allowed ISIS "to seek advantage on the ground".
Hammond said it was "unacceptable that Russian action is weakening the opposition and thus giving advantage to the very Daesh forces that they claim to be against". "The majority of Russian air strikes continue to target Syrian opposition forces," he said.
"In the last two weeks the Russians have attacked opposition forces between Homs and Aleppo, as well as in the far north of Syria, and in doing so have allowed Daesh to seek advantage on the ground,” said Hammond, adding: "With our coalition partners, including the US, we will continue to urge the Russians at every opportunity to focus their fire solely on Daesh."
Hammond was updating Parliament on Britain's role in the Syrian civil war since a vote in favor of air strikes two weeks ago. He said he believed "75 percent" of Russian air strikes were targeting "people who we believe need to be part of the solution in Syria".
Since its military contributions began in Syria, UK has received no intelligence to suggest any civilian casualties have arisen from its strikes, Hammond told the parliament.
AB/IINA

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