Bombings fail to halt Islamic State push as America and Russia talk air safety
World
Bombings fail to halt Islamic State push as America and Russia talk air safety
America and Russia are poised to enter talks this weekend to avoid accidents during their bombing raids over Syria. The discussions follow at least one near-miss between aircraft from the superpowers as they each launch blitzes on targets in the troubled country. Apart from air safety, talks will likely take in alleged violations of Turkish air space by Russian jets. Officials from the two sides conducted talks on air safety via video link on 1 October but there has been little communication since.
Department leaders are reviewing the Russian response and talks are likely to take place as soon as this weekend
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook
The talks come as the bombing missions over Syria intensify with Russia claiming it killed hundreds of jihadists in raids on Friday. Both sides are supposed to be targeting Islamic State fighters but the U.S. suspects Russia has mostly hit rebels opposed to the regime of president Bashir al-Assad. The raids have done little to slow the advance of Islamic State militants, who captured a string of villages near Aleppo on Friday in a lightning attack that brought them closer to the prized former capital. Dozens of combatants were killed on both sides, according to observers.
IS has never been so close to the city of Aleppo and this is its biggest advance yet
Abdel Rahman, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
