Now the cluster **** just got bigger!
"The
US says it was informed an hour before they took place.... In a televised address,
Mr Putin said the air strikes were targeting Islamist militants - including Russian citizens - who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
He added that Russia was not going to send ground troops to Syria, and that its role in Syrian army operations would be limited. "We certainly are not going to plunge head-on into this conflict... we will be supporting the Syrian army purely in its legitimate fight with terrorist groups.""
Syria crisis: Russian air strikes against Assad enemies - BBC News
Its being reported they bombed these areas in rural Homs: "Talbiseh, Rastan, Zaafaraneh, Latamneh & Ghanto"
https://twitter.com/RamiSafadi93/status/649206927923224576
Its being reported that their are no ISIS in the area.
1.)All rebel forces retreated from Homs in early May and the city itself has been under control by Assad forces and citizens have been allowed to return
2.)All of the locations bombed by Russia are in northern rural Homs.
3.)After the Syrian Arab Army was victorious in pushing out rebels during the "Siege of Homs" all rebels were to be allowed to leave the city to the north
4.)The rebels that were involved in the Siege of Homs were the FSA, the Islamic Front, and Al-Nusra front
5.)ISIS has attacked homes but they have attacked it from the East, not the North
Islamic Extremists Target Homs, Syria This means Russia is not likely targeting ISIS.
6.)However ISIS does have some influence in the northern rural ares of Homs. A map of who controls what can be found here
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Syrian_civil_war.png You will also find that Al-Nusra has influence and is working with the "moderate rebels" (FSA, Islamic Front), and they have many times in the past.
7.)Al-Nusra is currently working with the FSA and Islamic Front in the Northern rural area of Homs. They have launched attacks from that area "Rebels of Nusra Front attacked regime headquarters in several villages in the northern countryside of Homs, using heavy artillery and mortars."
Thirty pro-Assad forces killed in Nusra-led attack in Homs - ARA News
8.)It is being reported that Al-Nusra have come into alliance with the FSA and Islamic Front and are fighitng with them in Northern Homs. "The Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” and their allies from the Free Syrian Army” launched another offensive in the contested Al-Rastan Plains of the Homs Governorate’s northern countryside, targeting the National Defense Forces (NDF) at the imperative towns of Jiboureen and Tisneen on Saturday morning."
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/jabhat-al-nusra-conducts-another-offensive-in-northern-homs/ "The Syrian Arab Army’s (SAA) offensive in northern Homs continued today, with the latter targeting a number of militant strongholds in the city of Talbeiseh; this resulted in the death of a number of enemy combatants from the Al-Qaeda linked “Al-Nusra Front” (Jabhat Al-Nusra) and local rebel contingents that pledged allegiance to the Free Syrian Army (FSA)."
http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/homs-violence-erupts-talbeiseh-saa-al-nusra-front/
9.)It is expected that AL-Nusra and the FSA will have an official alliance in the area to combat these problems. "Hama and Homs: Create a new military operations room to launch offensive
against pro-regime forces, likely NW of Hama City.. Establish joint governance structure in the Homs Countryside.. Establish joint governance structure in the Homs Countryside"
http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/90 Day Strategic Forecast - JN in Syria.pdf It seems they are doing just that.
So I guess in conclusion, did Russia bomb ISIS targets? It does not appear that way. But they most likely bombed al-Nusra (Al-Qaeda) targets in the northern rural area of Homs. Most likely bombed a combination of al-Nusra (al-Qaeda) and FSA/Islamic Front targets.
