Russia ‘launches air strikes in Syria’

Russia has reportedly launched its first airstrikes in Syria against opponents of president Bashar al-Assad.

US officials told Reuters that Russian airstrikes struck targets in the vicinity of Homs, and that Washington was informed in advance of the strikes.

A US defence official declared that the US-led coalition would continue to fly anti-Islamic State missions over Iraq and Syria as planned, and criticised Russia’s move.

"While we would welcome a constructive role by Russia in this effort, today's demarche hardly seems indicative of that sort of role and will in no way alter our operations,” the official said."It also only underscores the need to begin having meaningful deconfliction discussions very soon.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin received permission from parliament for Russian forces to conduct bombing raids in Syria. The Russian federation council held a swift closed session in the morning, in which it unanimously approved Putin’s request.

Senior Kremlin official Sergey Ivanov said that no ground troops would be involved in Syria, only the air force.

Putin last asked the federation council to authorise the use of troops abroad in March 2014, prior to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

The Kremlin withdrew the resolution in June, but it was only in August that large-scale evidence emerged of Russian troops in east Ukraine, claims that Russia has continually denied.

Russia’s latest move comes two days after Putin spoke to the UN General Assembly in New York and called for an international coalition to fight IS in Syria, similar to the coalition against Hitler in World War Two.