Skip to main content

Russian Cruise Missiles Target Syrian Rebels

CBN

Share This article

JERUSALEM, Israel – The Russian navy reportedly fired 26 long-range cruise missiles at Syrian targets Wednesday, identifying 11 direct hits.

The missile volley, fired from Russian naval vessels in the Caspian Sea nearly 1,000 miles away, was Russia’s first naval assault against U.S.-backed anti-government forces in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin bragged about the navy’s precision airstrikes, saying they evidenced the professionalism of Russia’s military forces.

“We know how difficult it is to carry out this kind of anti-terrorist operation,” Putin told Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Washington Post reported. “Of course it’s early to draw conclusions, but what has been done so far deserves a highly positive assessment.”

The Obama administration says Russia is targeting U.S.-backed rebel forces, not the Islamic State, with the goal of keeping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter called Russia’s strategy “a fundamental mistake.”

Russia’s strategy is “wrong,” Carter told reporters in Rome, adding that American forces will not cooperate with Moscow against ISIS.

“We believe Russia has the wrong strategy,” Carter said. “They continue to hit targets that are not ISIL. This is a fundamental mistake.”

NATO also expressed concern over the “troubling escalation of Russian military activities,” including the use of cruise missiles, the BBC reported.

According to the report, NATO will stand with Turkey’s protest against Russian invasion of its airspace.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said an attack on Turkey is an attack on NATO.

“If Russia loses a friend like Turkey, with whom it has a lot of cooperation, it’s going to lose a lot of things,” Erdogan warned. “It needs to know this.”

To further complicate the situation, China seems close to sending troops from its People’s Liberation Army to back Russian efforts in Syria.

“The world cannot afford to stand by and look on with folded arms, but must also not arbitrarily interfere,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told members of the U.N. Security Council in New York.

According to some assessments, Russia, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been formulating military strategy for at least six months to keep Assad in power.

Share This article