Russian warships launched missiles into Syria from the Caspian Sea on Wednesday as Russian-backed government troops launched a ground offensive to crush forces opposing the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The missiles mark a major escalation of Russian involvement in the region and a growing crisis for U.S. policy in Syria.
Russia says its attacks are targeting the Islamic State and other extremist groups, but the U.S. says they have been mostly aimed at bolstering Assad's regime, which Washington opposes.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin in televised remarks that four warships carried out 26 missile strikes from the Caspian Sea, destroying 11 targets more than 900 miles away, Russia's TASS news agency reported. He said no civilian facilities were hit.
"Intensive work of different intelligence services over the last two days has made it possible to detect a large number of various (Islamic State) facilities — command posts, ammunition depots, military equipment depots, training camps of militants,” Shoigu said, according to TASS.
He said 112 Islamic State targets have been hit since Sept. 30, when Russian warplanes began airstrikes in Syria. The U.S. military has challenged the Russian claims, saying at least 50% of the strikes have targeted moderate opposition forces fighting Assad.
Signs of a new Syrian government ground offensive in central Syria on Wednesday places Russia and the United States at even greater odds. The ground offensive, backed by Russian strikes, could crush moderate opposition forces and strengthen Assad's regime.
U.S. policy has been aimed at attacking the Islamic State and searching for a political solution to remove Assad, since his regime has fueled a civil war for more than four years and allowed extremism to grow.
The new Russian escalation threatens to further undermine an already faltering U.S. strategy in Syria and Iraq. U.S. efforts to build a ground force in Syria, for example, have stumbled.
One group of U.S.-trained fighters was mostly routed by al-Qaeda linked forces, and another turned over equipment and ammunition to the same organization.
Meanwhile, there has been no significant diplomatic progress to replace Assad.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday said the U.S.-led coalition, which is conducting its own bombing campaign, has not agreed to cooperate with Russia in the fight against the Islamic State and that no collaboration is possible as long as Moscow continues to strike other targets, AP reported.
Speaking at a news conference in Rome, Carter said the U.S. will conduct basic, technical talks with Russia about efforts to ensure that flights over Syria are conducted safely and “that’s it.” He said the U.S. is not prepared to cooperate with a Russian strategy that's “tragically flawed,” the AP reported. “They continue to hit targets that are not ISIL. We believe that is a fundamental mistake,” he added.
Russian warplanes began bombing in Syria a week ago, in strikes authorities said were targeting the Islamic State and al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate following a request from Assad.