Russia says air force has not hit civilian targets in Syria
By REUTERS
MOSCOW - Russian air forces have not hit civilian targets since they started a bombing campaign in Syria nearly three months ago, a senior Russian officer said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television.London-based rights group Amnesty International said this week that Russia's bombing of Syria had killed many civilians and could amount to a war crime. Russia's Defense Ministry strongly rejected the allegations."The Military Space Forces have never hit civilian targets in Syria," said Viktor Bondarev, Colonel General and commander-in-chief of Russia's Aerospace Forces. Pilots are well-trained and "have never missed their targets, have never hit ... so-called sensitive places: schools, hospitals, mosques," he said.The Kremlin began its campaign of air strikes in Syria on Sept. 30, saying it wanted to help Moscow's main Middle East ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, defeat Islamic State and other militant groups.
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