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BEIRUT: Russia said Thursday its warplanes had eased back on air strikes in Syria as regime forces press a widening ground offensive, while President Vladimir Putin criticised Washington for not cooperating over the conflict.
As Moscow and Washington neared agreement on measures to avoid confrontation over Syria, Russia announced that a hotline had been set up with Israel to ensure there would be no clashes between their air forces.
Russia launched 32 attacks on "terrorist" targets over the past 24 hours, the defence ministry said Thursday afternoon, compared with some 86 the previous day.
"The intensity of the sorties... has slightly decreased in the past day," a statement said, because "the front line with the terrorist groups of ISIL (Islamic State group) is changing as a result of active offensives by the Syrian armed forces."
The latest strikes targeted Damascus, Idlib, Hama, Deir Ezzor, and Aleppo provinces.
In Aleppo, it said strikes had destroyed an IS command post and an underground bomb-making workshop.
Also eliminated were artillery positions in Khan Sheikhun in Hama, one of the targets of the Syrian military offensive.
'Militants retreating'
"The militants are retreating, trying to set up new positions and change the logistic system providing them with ammunition, weaponry and materials," the ministry said.
Syrian television, citing a military source, said the army had begun a military operation in the north and northwest of Homs province "with the goal of restoring security and stability to the villages and towns in the area".
It said its forces had taken control of one village north of the city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, reported at least 10 people, six of them rebels, had been killed in a barrage of Russian air strikes in the area.
The Homs offensive is the latest joint operation since Moscow began its aerial campaign on September 30.
The fighting appears intended to secure the main highway that leads from Homs to neighbouring Hama's provincial capital Hama city.
The cities are almost totally controlled by the government, but moderates, Islamists and Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front hold territory in between.
Meanwhile, a senior official in key regional Syrian ally Iran said Tehran would consider sending fighters to aid Damascus if they were requested.
"If Syria makes a request, we will study the request and make a decision," said Alaedin Boroujerdi, chairman of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee.
On Thursday, state television said loyalists had seized two small villages in northern Hama, extending their push towards Idlib, which is controlled by a rebel alliance known as the Army of Conquest.
Russia-Israel hotline
The advances have come with the support of a Russian air campaign Moscow says is targeting IS and others it describes as "terrorists".
But rebels and their international backers say the intervention is intended to bolster President Bashar al-Assad and has targeted moderate and Islamist opposition forces rather than jihadists.
Russia's entry into the conflict has raised fears of a potential confrontation with the US-led coalition that began air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq more than a year ago.
Moscow and Washington have held several rounds of talks on ways to avoid incidents in Syria's increasingly crowded airspace and a US defence official said Wednesday the two sides were close to a deal.
But the two countries remain poles apart on the broader issue of the Syrian conflict, with Washington insisting Assad must step down and Russia seeking a political solution that would keep him in power.
Washington this week rebuffed Moscow's suggestion of broader talks on Syria, prompting criticism from Putin on Thursday.
"I believe this is an unconstructive position," he said on a visit to Kazakhstan.
"It looks like they have nothing to talk about."
However, the Russian defence ministry said an "information-sharing" mechanism has been established through a hotline between the Russian command centre in Syria and a command post of the Israeli air force.
Israel has reportedly launched air strikes in Syria against Iranian arms transfers to Hezbollah and Israeli officials are believed to fear that Russia's intervention could limit their room for manoeuvre.
More than 245,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011, and more than four million have fled their country.
Most have found refuge in neighbouring nations, but many Syrians have joined a wave of migrants and refugees seeking asylum in Europe.
EU leaders were meeting Thursday to discuss the crisis, with the focus on getting approval from a reluctant Turkey for an EU plan to assist it in hosting more than two million refugees.
AFP
