Insurgents fired rockets at Russia’s embassy in Damascus in what Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called an act or terror meant to intimidate those who support the fight against Islamic State militants.
The two rockets struck the embassy compound Tuesday as hundreds of people rallied outside in support of Russia’s two week-old military campaign in Syria.
There was no immediate report of casualties.
In an audio recording released late Monday, the head of Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, urged militants in the Caucasus to counter Moscow’s air campaign by targeting Russians.
‘Eye for an eye’
“If the Russian army kills the people of Syria, then kill their people. And if they kill our soldiers, then kill their soldiers. An eye for an eye,” Abu Mohamed al-Jolani said.
Meanwhile, U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura is holding talks Tuesday in Russia as part of an effort to forge an understanding between Russian and U.S. officials and also move toward a political process to end the Syrian conflict.
Later, De Mistura plans to fly to Washington for talks there as well.
Monday in Geneva, he said fighting terrorists in Syria is important, but there also needs to be a parallel political process and the involvement of regional players in order to resolve the crisis that has persisted since March 2011.
“Let us remember that most of the refugees left Syria well before ISIS took over almost one-third of the country,” he said, referring to an acronym for the Islamic State group. “In fact, they left because of the fighting between the government and what was at the time called the mainstream opposition.”
‘New dynamics’
De Mistura said Russia’s military action has brought “new dynamics” to the situation in Syria.
He said he planned to discuss medical evacuations for dozens of wounded people in northwestern Syria as well as a number of other urgent issues related to the conflict and the escalation since Russia began airstrikes two weeks ago.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said advances have been made in working with Washington on fighting in Syria.
“We still don’t 100 percent share the same view on the situation up to every step with our partners in the region, with the Americans, with our other colleagues, but we absolutely have progress,” Lavrov said.
The talks come as Syria sees its heaviest fighting in weeks.
Syrian government troops advanced under cover of Russian airstrikes Monday and the United States airdropped 50 tons of small-arms ammunition to rebels in northern Syria.
Government forces battled rebels in a strategic area in the central province of Hama, hoping to regain the Sahl al-Ghab plain.
‘Fiercest’ fighting
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the clashes were the “fiercest” since the Russian air campaign began at the end of September.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its aircraft hit 86 “terrorist” targets in Syria in the past 24 hours.
The U.S.-led, anti-Islamic State coalition forces continued to strike Islamic State targets into Tuesday, conducting three strikes in Syria and 11 in Iraq, according to the U.S. Central Command, which overseas U.S. forces in the Middle East.
‘Worrying elements’
The European Council on Monday called for Russia to “immediately” end military attacks in Syria that do not target Islamic State or other U.N.-designated terrorist organizations.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Russia’s military action in Syria is a “game-changer” that has “some very worrying elements.”
Before an EU foreign ministers meeting Monday in Luxembourg, Mogherini said actions against Islamic State militants have to clearly be carried out against that group and other terrorists defined by the United Nations.
She said she believes the European Union, Russia and the United States have common ground in Syria based on U.N. Security Council resolutions and a U.N. framework, but that their action must be coordinated.
VOA’s Carla Babb, Lisa Schlein and Chris Hannas contributed to this report.
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