Russia has responded to recent U.S. and Israeli strikes that targeted two rival factions in Syria, where all three foreign powers have engaged in separate military campaigns in pursuit of national interests.
In a statement published Monday, U.S. Central Command announced that it targeted Al-Qaeda in Syria’s leadership in strikes the previous day near Aleppo, stating that those targeted were “operatives responsible for plotting external attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians.” Jihadi groups associated with Al-Qaeda were known to have a presence in northwestern Idlib and surrounding provinces such as Aleppo, and the Pentagon warned that the region “remains a safe haven” for such militants.
The U.S., however, has rarely intervened in this corner of the war-torn country. Rather it was Moscow that often supported Syrian efforts here. Asked if the U.S. strikes could be the result of Friday’s meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that, while he had “no details” on what happened, he could say “there is definitely no connection here,” as the state-run Tass Russian News Agency reported.
Washington and its regional allies actually backed a number of the groups fighting as part of the 2011 rebel and jihadi uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Since 2015, however, the Pentagon has largely focused its efforts on supporting Kurdish fighters against the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) as the jihadis and various militant and rebel groups also faced off with Syrian troops and allied militias, who were targeted overnight as well.
The post Russia Reacts To U.S., Israel’s Strikes On Rival Targets In Syria appeared first on Independent Newspapers Nigeria.
Source: Independent
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