Putin: Preemptive action best way to fight terrorism

Russian President Vladimir Putin says preemptive airstrikes are the best way to fight international terrorism, especially those militant groups operating against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“The only correct way to fight international terrorism... is to act preemptively, to battle and destroy fighters and terrorists on the territories they have already seized, not to wait for them to come to us,” Putin said on Wednesday as Russian fighter jets conducted their first airstrikes against the Takfiri Daesh militants in Syria.

Putin also said terrorists from many countries, including Russia, have entered Iraq and Syria to join Daesh.

The Russian president went on to say that Daesh “has nothing to do with true Islam,” adding, “One does not have to be an expert on these issues to understand that they will inevitably return to their countries, they will come to Russia if they succeed in Syria.”

The terrorists must be crushed and not be allowed to return to their home countries with battle experience and ideology adopted in the war-hit countries, Putin stated.

The Russian president said Moscow will support the Assad administration from air, adding that the airstrikes will be conducted only temporarily.

“Certainly, we are not going to engage in this conflict up to the hilt. Our actions will be implemented strictly within the set framework. First, we will support the Syrian army only in its lawful struggle exactly with terrorist groupings, secondly, the backing will be provided from the air without participation in ground operations,” Putin said.

Moscow is “not going to plunge into this conflict head-on” and will be supporting the Syrian army, he added.

Baghdad coordination center

Putin said Russian airstrikes are conducted with the knowledge of all its foreign partners, adding, “At the first stage I offer the countries concerned, primarily regional countries, to join the activity of the international information and further coordination center in Baghdad.”

Iraqi military's joint operations command announced in a Saturday statement that Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia have formed an intelligence-sharing center in the Iraqi capital. The statement said that Iraqi officials are engaged in intelligence and security cooperation with officials from the three counties in Baghdad.

“We have always supported and support the struggle against international terrorism, at the same time we are convinced that it should be waged exclusively in strict compliance with international law, so, within the framework of the UN Security Council resolutions adopted in such cases or at the request of a party which needs military assistance,” Putin said.

Referring to the fact that the US-led coalition’s airstrikes in Syria are conducted without the authorization of the UN and the Syrian government, the Russian president said Washington’s initiative lacks the criteria Moscow has considered in its strikes.

Moscow “considers it possible and expedient to pool efforts of all countries concerned in the fight against international terrorism and to build this work on the basis of the UN Charter.”

The first airstrikes of Russian style

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the military has conducted it first airstrikes in Syria against militants. Syrian security forces said Russian warplanes targeted militants in three provinces of Hama, Homs and Latakia.

A senior US official told CNN earlier in the day that the airstrikes were conducted against militants in the western city of Homs.

It was also said that Russian officials told their US counterparts that they should not fly warplanes in Syria.

Request for military aid

Russia launched its first airstrikes against Takfiri militants in Syria after the upper house of the Russian parliament gave President Putin the mandate to use the air force in the Arab country.

The Federation Council discussed Putin’s request for the approval of Russia’s military presence behind closed doors.

In televised remarks after the vote, Sergei Ivanov, the head of Kremlin administration, said the move did not mean that Russian ground forces would be engaged in the conflict, adding that it only concerned the use of the air force.

He also said Russia’s military presence in Syria comes upon a request by Assad who “has appealed to the leadership of our country with a request for military aid.”

Assad’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that the Syrian president had sent a letter to Putin, asking for the military support.

The US and its allies have been accusing Russia of a covert military buildup in Syria. Moscow has denied the allegation, saying it will only send troops to Syria if Damascus makes such a request.

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