Russia blasted the Islamic State’s declared capital in Raqqa, Syria, early Tuesday morning after publicly confirming that a homemade bomb took down its airliner over Egypt.
The Russian strikes come days after the French also stepped up their air campaign against the Islamic State in Raqqa after a string of six attacks, while President Obama has said the U.S. strategy does not need a revision.
A U.S. defense official said the Russians notified the U.S. before conduct its bombing runs, according to the safety protocols the two countries agreed to last month.
“We are aware that over the past several hours Russia conducted a significant number of strikes in Raqqa, some of which may have included sea-launched cruise missiles and long-range bombers,” the official said.
Since Russia began its bombing campaign in Syria this year, it has primarily targeted rebel groups fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, with only a small fraction striking the Islamic State.
The Russians, however, pummeled the capital of the group’s caliphate as they announced that a homemade bomb took down the Russian passenger plane that crashed in Egypt more than two weeks ago. The Islamic State had already claimed credit for the attack.
Paris also conducted numerous strikes in Raqqa over the weekend after a string of Islamic State terrorist attacks throughout the city killed more than 129 and injured more than 350, some severely.
While the U.S. regularly conducts airstrikes in Raqqa, including one last week that killed the British Islamic State figure “Jihadi John,” President Obama said Monday that he would not change his strategy or increase America’s involvement in the fight as a result of the French attacks. His unwillingness to rethink the U.S. strategy drew criticism from analysts.
