Russian Warships Strike ISIS in Syria

Two Russian warships based in the eastern Mediterranean Sea fired four cruise missiles at positions occupied by the so-called Islamic State in Syria on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.

The missiles targeted ISIS weapons that had been moved from the militants’ former Syrian capital in Raqqa to positions near the town of Palmyra, the Russian military said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera. The attack also hit ISIS fighters the group had deployed to the ancient town, according to the Associated Press.

The latest strikes are likely intended to assist Syrian troops and allied forces advancing against militants in the ISIS-controlled crossroads of Sukhna, around 37 miles (60km) northeast of Palmyra.

Wednesday’s missile attack is the first time in recent months that Russia has used its naval fleets to target ISIS positions inside the war-torn country.

Russian Jets Stall Rebel Advance in Southeastern Syria

U.S.-backed fighters in Syria claimed Russian warplanes bombed their positions in Syria’s southeastern desert Wednesday, slowing down their advance against Iranian proxy groups operating in the region, Reuters reported.

“A sortie of Russian jets bombed us to repel our advance after we broke the first lines of defense of the Iranian militia and took over advanced positions near the Zaza checkpoint,” a spokesman for Jaish Osoud al-Sharqiya, one of the main groups in the area, told Reuters, adding that none of his fighters had been killed in the attack.

The Syrian army and allied militias captured the strategic Zaza checkpoint and the town of Sabaa Biyar, near the border with Iraq and Jordan, earlier this month, to stop U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army groups from taking ISIS-held territories in the area.

Syria’s southern desert has since emerged as a frontline between Iranian proxy groups and U.S.-backed rebels in light of rapid government advances towards a U.S. training base south of the Zaza outpost.

Earlier this month, coalition fighter planes struck a convoy of Iranian-backed fighters near the Tanf base, while it was advancing inside a protected “deconfliction zone” – a move that U.S. officials have claimed was a defensive measure to protect their forces in the region.

Turkey Launches Fresh Criticism of U.S. Syria Policy

Turkey criticized the U.S. decision to arm the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria on Wednesday, saying that Washington’s policy is not fitting for an ally, Reuters reported.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the U.S. Department of Defense to supply arms to the YPG despite concerns from NATO ally Turkey, which considers Kurdish fighters in Syria to be terrorists.

“It has been stressed that the policy of supporting the PKK/PYD-YPG terrorist organization, acting under the guise of the Syrian Democratic Forces, by disregarding Turkey’s expectation is not befitting of a friendship and alliance,” Turkey’s National Security Council said in a statement released after a 4.5-hour meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ankara’s latest criticism came one day after the U.S. announced the delivery of a new weapons shipment to Kurdish forces advancing on ISIS in Raqqa.

Recommended Reads

• The Business Insider: A Showdown Could Be Looming Between the U.S., Iran and the Assad Regime at the Syria-Iraq Border
• Al Jazeera: Could Syria’s ‘Prosecutor Without a Tribunal’ Work?
• Asharq Al-Awsat: Is It Time for an Alternative Syrian Army?
• Al Monitor: Russia’s Syria Strategy Hinges on Jordan
• Foreign Policy: Hospitals Become the Front Line in the Syrian Civil War