Washington: Russia struck the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa in Syria Tuesday with a “significant number” of strikes that may have included long-range bombers and sea-launched cruise missiles, a US defense official said.
There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow, but Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier vowed vengeance as Moscow confirmed a bomb brought down a Russian passenger jet over Egypt last month, killing all 224 people aboard.
“We are aware that over the past several hours Russia conducted a significant number of strikes in Raqqa, some of which may have included sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers,” said the official, who made the remarks on condition of anonymity.
“While we do not coordinate or collaborate in any way with Russia on its activities in Syria, I can confirm that the Russians did provide us notice prior to conducting these strikes, via the Coalition Combined Air Operations Center in Qatar, in accordance with the safety protocols agreed to in October,” the official said.
“These strikes are not affecting coalition operations, and we have not scrapped any missions as a result,” the official added.
The United States and Russia have been waging separate air campaigns in civil war-torn Syria.
In a meeting with his security chiefs, Putin pledged to ramp up Moscow’s bombing campaign in Syria in response to the attack. But he but stopped short of blaming any one group.
“We will search for them anywhere they might hide. We will find them in any part of the world and punish them,” he said. Meanwhile, Iran’s army conducted exercises Tuesday close to its border with Afghanistan designed to simulate how it would respond if “terrorist groups” such as the Daesh organisation mounted an attack.
The operation in the northeastern province of Khorasan came a day after a military commander said Daesh would be “neutralised” if it breached a 40 kilometre zone approaching Iran’s borders.
Tanks, helicopters and planes took part in Tuesday’s manoeuvres, the ISNA news agency reported.
The exercise followed Daesh attacks that killed 129 people in Paris last week.
“One aim of the exercise was to practice methods and means to confront the possible actions of terrorist groups at the borders,” said General Amir Reza Azarban, an army commander in the province.
Iran, the major Shiite power in the Middle East, is heavily involved in conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
On Monday, General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, the army’s head of ground forces, announced the 40 kilometre limit on the borders with Iraq and Afghanistan, which if breached would trigger action.
“We have strongly warned that if any action is taken (by Daesh), it will face a decisive response from Iranian armed forces and we will do the same in Afghanistan,” Pourdastan said.
“Before the enemy reaches borders, its actions will be neutralised.”
His comments came after Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ebrahim Al Jaafari said intelligence sources showed Iran was among countries Daesh planned to attack.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is independent of the army, has advisory missions in Iraq and Syria at the invitation of the Baghdad and Damascus governments.
Pourdastan’s statement came just weeks before Iranian pilgrims prepare to travel to Iraq for the annual Arbaeen commemorations, which have been targeted by militants in past years.
