Strikes must target all terrorists in Syria: French FM
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says airstrikes in Syria must target Daesh positions as well as those of other militants “considered terrorists.”
Speaking on Monday, Fabius referred to a recent statement by French President Francois Hollande regarding Russia’s airstrikes inside Syria, in which the French president had said that the airstrikes should target “Daesh and only Daesh.”
While the wording of the statement by Hollande was clear, Fabius claimed that it did not say that terrorist groups other than Daesh should not be targeted.
“Of course, it is a concise formulation, it is Daesh and groups considered as terrorists,” Fabius said in reference to Hollande’s October 2 statement.
Reports indicate Russia has carried out some 70 airstrikes in Syria so far.
The Russian raids have drawn criticism from Western governments and their allies in the Middle East, which have been supporting the militants operating in the region.
Russia, however, has dismissed the Western allegations against its military offensive, saying its airstrikes are only targeting terrorists such as Daesh and al-Qaeda-linked militants.
Moscow started its campaign weeks after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had been informed by sources from the international US-led coalition purporting to fight Daesh that the coalition, on a number of occasions, had not held out airstrikes against confirmed Daesh positions inside Syria. Lavrov voiced suspicion over the sincerity of Washington in its airstrikes in Syria.
The US and some of its Arab allies have been conducting airstrikes against Daesh inside Syria since last September. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, said the US-led strikes have been counterproductive. He also said the attacks have resulted in the spread of terrorism.
Syria has been gripped by a foreign-backed militancy since March 2011 aimed at toppling the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people so far.
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