AP, Washington :US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday accused Russia of inflaming Syria’s years-long civil conflict and said Moscow’s military involvement in the war-torn nation was “doomed to fail.”Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon hours after Russia launched its first air strikes in Syria, Carter said Moscow’s entry into the bloody conflict was akin to “pouring gasoline on the fire.””The Russian approach here is doomed to fail,” Carter said. “I hope that they come over to a point of view where they try to pursue their objectives in a different way that makes more sense.”Russian warplanes carried out strikes in Homs province, US officials said, while a Syrian security source and state media said Hama province was also hit.Russia only gave the United States an hour’s warning ahead of the strikes and did not specify where they would occur, riling many in the Pentagon who had been hoping for clearer and more detailed lines of communication.The Pentagon has repeatedly warned of the need for “deconfliction” to ensure coalition and Russian planes don’t inadvertently cross paths.Russian involvement in the 4.5-year-old conflict that has claimed some 250,000 lives was being seen as a victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who invited the Russians to join his battle to cling on to power, and a defeat for the United States, which has demanded he step down.Though Russia said it was attacking Islamic State forces, Carter said all evidence indicated that the extremist group was not the target of Wednesday’s strikes.”It does appear (the strikes) were in areas where there were probably not ISIL forces,” Carter said, using an alternative acronym for the IS group.Separately, a senior defense official said the strikes appeared to be in support of the Syrian opposition.The defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the targets were the same ones Russian reconnaissance craft had flown over in recent days.But the Russian defense ministry said its fighter jets carried out 20 flights in Syria, striking “eight Islamic State targets” including a command post held by the jihadist group.
