Russia, Turkey stage first joint air strikes against IS in Syria
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DefenceTalkRussia and Turkey on Wednesday staged their first joint air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, the Russian defence ministry said. Nine Russian and eight Turkish planes took part in the “first joint air operation” in the area around the town of Al-Bab in the Aleppo region, Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoi told […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-turkey-stage-first-joint-air-strikes-against-is-in-syria-68841/
Syria army resumed Aleppo assault after rebels broke truce: Russia
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DefenceTalkRussia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that the Syrian army resumed its assault in eastern Aleppo after rebels broke a truce intended to allow them to evacuate. The ministry said that its military monitors in Syria had organised the evacuation of fighters from the city by bus following an agreement between rebel leaders and Damascus, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/syria-army-resumed-aleppo-assault-after-rebels-broke-truce-russia-68664/
Pentagon chief announces 200 more US troops for Syria
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DefenceTalkWashington will send another 200 troops to Syria to help an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters seize the Islamic State group bastion of Raqa, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said on Saturday. They will join 300 US special forces troops already deployed in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance in the drive on the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-chief-announces-200-more-us-troops-for-syria-68659/
Paris prosecutors probe leak on French air strikes in Syria
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DefenceTalkParis prosecutors have opened a probe into the leaking of a confidential document on planned French air strikes in Syria in 2013, which in the end were never carried out, judicial sources said Monday. The document was obtained by two journalists from the daily Le Monde who recently published a tell-all book based on interviews […]https://www.defencetalk.com/paris-prosecutors-probe-leak-on-french-air-strikes-in-syria-68604/
Coalition not backing Turkish move on Al-Bab: US
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DefenceTalkThe US-led international coalition battling to defeat the Islamic State group is not backing a drive by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels to retake a jihadist stronghold in northern Syria, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Their offensive on the city of Al-Bab is not being supported by coalition air strikes because it was “independently” launched by […]https://www.defencetalk.com/coalition-not-backing-turkish-move-on-al-bab-us-68594/
Russian MiG-29 fighter jet crashes into Mediterranean
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DefenceTalkA Russian fighter jet crashed into the sea shortly into a training flight off the coast of Syria, Russia’s Ministry of Defense has announced. “As a result of a technical malfunction during a training flight an incident occurred to a carrier-based MiG-29,” read an official statement. “The pilot catapulted was delivered to the air carrier […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russian-mig-29-fighter-jet-crashes-into-mediterranean-68588/
US strikes may have killed 119 civilians in Iraq, Syria: Pentagon
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DefenceTalkThe Pentagon said Wednesday that US air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State group may have killed 119 civilians since 2014, a figure far lower than casualty estimates by monitoring groups. The figures released by Centcom, the US military command in the Middle East, came from a months-long review of reports and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-strikes-may-have-killed-119-civilians-in-iraq-syria-pentagon-68565/
US using Apache helicopters in the battle for Mosul
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DefenceTalkThe United States is using Apache helicopters in the battle to retake Iraq’s second city of Mosul after more than two years of Islamic State group rule, the Pentagon said. The US military, backing the ground campaign by Iraqi forces, is directing the attack helicopters against explosives-packed vehicles the jihadist group is employing for suicide […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-using-apache-helicopters-in-the-battle-for-mosul-68553/
22 children killed in air raid on Syria school: UNICEF
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DefenceTalkAir strikes that hit a school in rebel-held Idlib province in northwest Syria killed 22 children and six teachers, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said Wednesday. “This is a tragedy. It is an outrage. And if deliberate, it is a war crime,” said UNICEF director Anthony Lake. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “warplanes […]https://www.defencetalk.com/22-children-killed-in-air-raid-on-syria-school-unicef-68501/
Russia tells US-led coalition not to ‘drive terrorists’ from Iraq to Syria
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DefenceTalkRussia warned the US-led coalition Wednesday against driving jihadists from Iraq to Syria, in the offensive to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State jihadist group. “It is necessary not to drive terrorists from one country to the other but to destroy them on the spot,” the chief of Russia’s General Staff Valery Gerasimov said in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-tells-us-led-coalition-not-to-drive-terrorists-from-iraq-to-syria-68448/