Islamic countries should become key participants of coalition against Islamic State - Lavrov

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. Islamic countries should become key participants of coalition against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday. "Russia knows that in the fight against terrorists, it is required to act preventively, destroy militants on the territories that they seized and not to wait when they come to your house," the foreign minister said. "This is why Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to fulfill the request of the Syrian authorities and start the operation of the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces, in accordance with full agreement from our parliament, to deliver airstrikes at the positions of the Islamic State and other extremist groups on the Syrian territory." "We are ready to unite efforts in the fight against terrorism with all countries on the basis of international law. We proceed from the fact that Islamic countries can and should become key participants of such coalition," Lavrov said. Russia launches airstrikes in Syria At the end of September , Russian Federation Council unanimously granted permission to the Russian president to use the nation’s military force in Syria. Russia will use only its Air Force in Syria against Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups upon the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Kremlin chief of staff Sergey Ivanov said, stressing that no ground troops will be sent. Russian Aerospace Defense Forces started delivering targeted strikes against IS facilities on Wednesday, September 30. Modernized Su-24M and Su-25 fighter jets are deployed in the aviation unit of Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces formed in Syria, Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told journalists on Thursday. He stressed that all strikes were made after air reconnaissance and update of data obtained from the Syrian army headquarters. Aircraft armaments were not used to hit civil infrastructure facilities or areas near them. Read more