The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported today that Russian airstrikes against the ISIS capital city of Raqqa left 42 people dead, including 27 civilians and 15 ISIS fighters. The strikes were carried out on Tuesday, and the details are only now emerging.
Russia had indicated on Tuesday that their airstrikes that day were targeted using intelligence from unnamed rebel factions.
It is unclear whether the large civilian toll means the airstrikes were based on faulty intelligence or simply carried out in a densely populated area.
The incident was among the most heavy bombardments of ISIS territory since Russia began carrying out airstrikes in Syria last month. Many of their other strikes have centered on al-Qaeda-dominated territory around the Idlib Province.
The Syrian Observatory put the civilian death toll from Russian strikes in the past month to around 254, with Russia reporting just over 2,000 strikes overall. It is unclear what the combatant toll is at this point.
I really object to using Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as an authority on anything that is happening in Syria. This is a ONE man operation, without office, run from his home in Coventry, UK. He has an unsavory history, and this is not his real name. He cannot ever say where does he get his information — and it is clear that there are no organizations in all the places he is referring to. He has no informants that could give him accurate information. His main activity is to travel around the globe — paid for presumably, though not verified — by UK intelligence. He was recently at a conference in Kazakhstan — as he usually does — talking on issues of democracy, terrorism, etc, but more likely, establishing future informant base. Since his informers are those that are trying to ingratiate themselves to the money-supplying funds and NGOs, it is really more then clear that they cannot be objective nor really informed. Let alone being present in places like Raka. This organization reported that Russian airstrikes killed civilians hours BEFORE first Russian air strikes occurred! And nobody seems to pay attention to such overt nonsense.
It would be really helpful to have a cautionary note next to any information coming out of this "Observatory". They have been "observing" propaganda machine from the beginning of the conflict in Syria. When will the time come to at least distance ourselves from the claims of such non-existent agency.
I agree. The sudden prominence and ubiquity of this so-called organization is linked to the Russian support operation, and is simply a cog in the Western propaganda effort. The corporate media is massaging the story using dubious sources, demonstrating that information to them is a weapon of war and that they are ultimately contemptuous towards the rest of us.
The propaganda theme of the day – repeated everywhere in the corporate press – is that the Russian effort has not won back any significant territory, and that Syria has become a quagmire for them. An honest appraisal would note that an entire year of air campaigns by NATO resulted in huge gains in territory for the ISIS terrorist coalition. But the reporting is not honest, and reveals an appalling tendency to side with chaos-sowing jihadi terrorists, the same ones that mere months ago we were assured were the greatest threat ever.
And that one man is a pure propagandist. He also is the 'source' for claiming the Russians have been 'targeting' hospitals… He is also the 'source' quoted by the State Department talking heads all the time…
Just imagine the howls of "indignation" from Putin's American supporters if an American airstrike killed "27 civilians and 16 ISIS fighters"! The silver lining in this is that Putin is slowly but surely getting bogged down in Syria.
Jan 28, 2015 Suspected ISIS leader in Pakistan admits receiving funds via US report
A suspected Islamic State operative in Pakistan, Yousaf al Salafi, confesses to recruiting jihadists to fight in Syria, and says he received funds, wired through the U.S. RT's Gayane Chichakyan reports.
https://youtu.be/m3CRWcR4U5o
Russian bombs killed twice as many civilians as fighters — Pure propaganda
For what does Russia say? More to the point, why does this propaganda piece deny Russia the right to be heard in it’s own defense?