Spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry, Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov speaks during a news conference in Moscow. (Reuters file photo)MOSCOW: Russia accused the United States on Tuesday of pretending to fight Islamic State and of deliberately reducing its air strikes in Iraq to allow the group's militants to stream into Syria to slow the Russian-backed advance of the Syrian army. "Everyone sees that the US-led coalition is pretending to fight Islamic State, above all in Iraq, but continuing to allegedly fight Islamic State in Syria actively for some reason," said Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for Russia's defense ministry. Is their change of tack a desire to complicate as much as they can the Syrian army's operation, backed by the Russian air force, to take back Syrian territory to the east of the Euphrates?," asked Konashenkov. "Or is it an artful move to drive Islamic State terrorists out of Iraq by forcing them into Syria and into the path of the Russian air force's pinpoint bombing?"

Source: Bangkok Post October 10, 2017 18:56 UTC