Pentagon: Russia is not really in Syria to fight Daesh

Months into Russia's campaign of air strikes in Syria, it's become clear that Daesh is not the Russian military's true target, Business Insider reported on Thursday.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said at a briefing on Wednesday that at most, only 10% of Russian strikes are hitting the terrorist group Daesh in Syria.

The vast majority of the strikes hit other groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al Assad, who has be known to drop barrel bombs on civilian areas.

"The Russians at this point have made it very clear that their offensive operations … are in support of Bashar al Assad and his regime," Warren said. "So when the regime is fighting, whoever the regime is fighting, that’s who gets struck."

Russia only seems to hit Daesh when Daesh comes into contact with Syrian forces.

"Occasionally, the Syrian regime forces will find themselves in contact with ISIL (Daesh)," Warren said. "And in those cases, we see the Russians striking ISIL. But it’s very limited. A fraction."

Source: MENA