Russia asks: What are US, allies bombing?

Russia has expressed regret that Daesh has grown in strength since the US and its allies started bombing targets they allege to belong to the Takfiri terrorist group in Iraq, calling the campaign’s mission into question.

"The territory ISIL (Daesh) is controlling in Iraq has not shrunk as a result of the airstrikes the coalition has been delivering for over a year. The number of militants has grown,” said Director of Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for New Threats and Challenges, Ilya Rogachyov, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.

The United States and some of its allies have been conducting airstrikes against what they say are Daesh positions in Iraq since August 2014. The assaults have failed to dislodge the group, which has overrun about a third of the country.

"We think that the recoupment of losses ratio is larger than one. I mean more people are joining than ISIL loses in the hostilities," said the Russian official.

Daesh’s financial capacities have definitely grown over the recent year, said Rogachyov, who pointed to the increase in oil production by the group.

"So, what have they been bombing? The air superiority which is not questioned by anyone or anything should have had an impact on such things as crude exports. The coalition's Air Force is not efficient by these parameters," the official said.

Some members of the US-led coalition have also been pounding purported Daesh positions inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a United Nations mandate since last September. The mission has similarly fallen severely short of dislodging the terrorists, who have likewise seized about a third of the violence-scarred country.

Rogachyov said he did not consider the campaign in Syria to be efficient either.

Upon a request from Damascus, Russia has been conducting airstrikes of its own against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria for over a week now.

Latest hits on Daesh

In a statement on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the country's air force had hit 27 terrorist targets in Syria overnight.

"Russian warplanes conducted 22 flights overnight. The crew of Sukhoi Su-34, Sukhoi Su-24M and Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft struck 27 terrorist targets on Syrian territory," the ministry said, adding it had hit Daesh targets in the provinces of Hama, Raqa and Homs.

The ministry also published footage featuring Russian offensive against terrorists in Syria.

The videos show strikes on a Daesh command point and fortifications near the Tamana village in Hama Province, Igor Konashenkov, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, told journalists.

“A precise hit on the terrorists’ fortifications led to the detonation of munitions and vehicles, causing a complete destruction of the stronghold,” he said.

A terrorist fuel depot near the town of Khan al-Assal, located to the west of the northwestern Syria city of Aleppo, was also razed to the ground.

Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that Russian fighters had carried out 120 combat sorties against Daesh in Syria since September 30.

Also on Thursday, Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Arab Army, General Ali Ayoub confirmed that the group had lost part of their military capabilities due to Russian airstrikes.

US President Barack Obama has, however, called Moscow’s aerial campaign a “recipe for disaster” and claimed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin cannot “distinguish between” Daesh terrorists and the so-called moderate militants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told France 24 television on October 1 that the country would welcome Moscow’s embarking on any such military measures on its soil.

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