US urges Russia to strike Daesh in Syria

WASHINGTON

The U.S. again urged Russia on Monday to target Daesh, not moderate opposition forces, as it pursues an independent bombing campaign in Syria.

“We've been clear that the majority of Russian airstrikes have been focused in areas without a significant ISIL presence and have targeted opposition groups instead of ISIL,” said State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau.

“We continue to urge Russia to focus its efforts against ISIL, and as we have long said, we'd welcome Russia's constructive contributions to coalition efforts,” she added.

Russia maintains that the central target of its aerial campaign in Syria is Daesh, but the U.S. and its coalition allies say that it is targeting foes of Russia ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, as of Nov. 4 Russian warplanes carried out 1,631 flights above Syria and hit 2,084 targets since the operation began Sept. 30.

The ministry claimed 190 Daesh positions were hit within 24 hours on Nov. 20.

At least 263 civilians have been killed by Russian forces in Syria, according to the latest report from the Syrian Network for Human Rights.