Russia says
Turkey jets join anti-Daesh operation in Syria’s al-Bab
Wed Jan 18,
2017 2:49PM
Moscow says
Russian warplanes and Turkish jets have jointly targeted positions of Daesh
terrorists in the Syrian city of al-Bab.
The Wednesday
aerial attacks by Russian and Turkish war planes were the “first joint air
operation” by the two countries against the Daesh terrorist group in Syria, the
Russian Defense Ministry said.
Lieutenant
General Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff told a briefing
that nine Russian and eight Turkish planes were part of the operation in the
area around the city of al-Bab, located 40 kilometers northeast of Aleppo,
which was fully recaptured by the Syrian forces in December.
The Russian
military official said the operation had been conducted with the Syrian
government’s consent.
The Russian
Air Force was also providing air support to Syrian government troops trying to
fight off a Daesh attack around the eastern city of Dayr al-Zawr, Rudskoi said,
adding that Russian jets were also backing a Syrian army offensive near the
ancient city of Palmyra.
Rudskoi said
that "36 targets" had been destroyed in the joint operation.
The
announcement came less than a week after the Russian Defense Ministry said in a
statement that Moscow and Ankara had agreed to coordinate aerial attacks
"on terrorist targets" in Syria, and signed a memorandum on combat
flight safety during missions in Syrian airspace.
Meanwhile, a
nationwide ceasefire in Syria, brokered by Moscow and Ankara and endorsed by
the UN Security Council in late December, is largely holding across Syria as a
new round of peace talks, to be mediated by Russia, Turkey, and Iran, are to be
held in the Kazakh capital Astana next week.
The Daesh and
JabhatFateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist groups are excluded from the ceasefire
and the talks between representatives from the Syrian government and armed
opposition groups.
Washington
has not been involved in the latest diplomacy on the Syrian conflict as Ankara
is ostensibly shifting from its long-time ally and tilting more toward Russia
on the war in the Arab country.
Biggest bones
of contention between Turkey, US
Ties between
Turkey, which is a NATO member, with other member states of the Western
military alliance have been strained following their support for Kurdish
militias.
The tension
between Ankara and its Western allies is significantly linked to the country’s
July 15 failed coup, to which Turkey says they did not show due reaction.
Washington’s
refusal to extradite US-based Turkish opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom
Ankara accuses of masterminding the botched coup, is another bone of contention
between the two countries.
In August
last year, the Turkish air force and special ground forces kicked off Operation
Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to support the Free Syrian Army
militants and rid the border area of Daesh terrorists and fighters from the
Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD), who
have been making gains under the aegis of the US and other Western countries.
Ankara has already made it clear that it will not tolerate Kurdish territorial
gains close to its frontiers.
Original
post: presstv.ir
Russian and
Turkish command lead a joint operation against the 36 objectives set in the
area of Al-Bab, located on the north-east of Aleppo. This is the area where
the Turkish army conducts operation against the militants Daesh, but its
effectiveness is very limited. In fighting the Turks lost among other things,
at least a few tanks Leopard 2A4.
As announced
during a special press conference gen. Sergei Ruckoj, the departments took part
in the four Turkish F-4E Phantom and F-16C Falcon, the same number of Russian
Su-24M and Su-25 and one bomber Su-34. Source defence24.pl
Related post:
Syrian war is‘over,’ country’s fate in Russia’s hands, top GOP senator says - washingtontimes.com
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