Russia launches new wave of air raids in Syria

   DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Russian warplanes have attacked the Islamic State group and other insurgents in central and northern Syria with a wave of new airstrikes, Syrian and Russian military officials said Saturday.

   Russian military spokesman Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the warplanes flew 20 missions in Syria over the past day, hitting nine IS targets. He said an IS command post and a weapons storage bunker were destroyed in the area of Raqqa, the extremists' de facto capital.

   In Damascus, an unnamed Syrian military official was quoted by state TV as saying that the "concentrated and precise" airstrikes destroyed a command center in the central town of Latamneh in Hama province and targeted positions in the northwestern areas of Jisr al-Shughour and Maaret al-Numan.

   Konashenkov said equipment and weapons storage facilities were destroyed in a strike near Jisr al-Shughour and an ammunition depot was destroyed in Maaret al-Numan.

   The IS group has no presence in the northwestern province of Idlib, which includes Jisr al-Shughour and Maaret al-Numan.

   The Russian airstrikes that began Wednesday have mainly targeted central and northwestern Syria, strategic regions that are the gateway to President Bashar Assad's strongholds in the capital, Damascus, and the coast.

   Russia says it is targeting the IS group and al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate, but at least some of the strikes appear to have hit Western-backed rebel factions.

NATO launches biggest military exercise since 2002

   BRUSSELS: --- NATO launches its biggest military exercise since 2002 on Saturday, putting 36,000 alliance soldiers through their paces in Italy, Spain and Portugal to boost preparedness against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis.

   “Trident Juncture” runs from Saturday through to November 6 and involves personnel from more than 30 countries, the NATO Allied Joint Force Command center based in the Dutch city of Brunssum says on its website.

   The exercise will also involve Canada, Norway, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, together with operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

   “Trident Juncture 2015 will demonstrate NATO’s new increased level of ambition in joint modern warfare and will showcase a capable, forward-leading alliance equipped with the appropriate capability and capacity to meet present and future security challenges,” the command center said.

   The long-planned exercise has taken on a new significance after Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year and its support of pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine.

   In response, NATO has rotated forces through newer east European members such as the Baltic states and Poland who fear Russia wants to restore its influence over the Cold War-era satellites.

   The 28-nation alliance, led by the United States, has also increased its preparedness levels in the face of a whole series of evolving threats exemplified by events in the Ukraine and conflict and upheaval across the Middle East and North Africa.

   In September last year, NATO leaders agreed to set up a new, very rapid response force able to put boots on the ground within days.

   The Brunssum command center said the Trident Juncture exercise would allow NATO to certify the staff as ready to lead this rapid response force if it is formally activated as expected next year.

   NATO officials stress that the exercises, including Trident Juncture, are not aimed at any country.

   For its part, Russia has also staged a series of large military exercises, citing increased security concerns on its western borders and to the south.

Russian Sukhois Bomb Syria for Third Day, Mainly Avoiding Islamic State

   MOSCOW/BEIRUT(Reuters) --- Russia bombed Syria for a third day today, mainly hitting areas held by rival insurgent groups rather than the Islamic State fighters it said it was targeting.

   Washington, which is leading its own air campaign against Islamic State, says Moscow has been using its campaign as a pretext to hit other groups opposed to Russia's ally, President Bashar al-Assad.
   Some of the groups that have been hit are supported by countries which oppose both Assad and Islamic State, including at least one group that received training from the CIA.

   Moscow said today its latest strikes had hit 12 Islamic State targets, but most of the areas it described were in parts of the country where the militant group has little or no sway.
   The Russian Defence Ministry said its Sukhoi-34, Sukhoi-24M and Sukhoi-25 warplanes had flown 18 sorties, describing targets in western and northern Syria, including a command post and a communications centre in the province of Aleppo, a militant field camp in Idlib and a command post in Hama.
   The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict with a network of sources on the ground, said Islamic State had no presence in the western and northern areas that were struck.
   The Observatory's head, Rami Abdulrahman, said one of the targets hit in the latest Russian air strikes, the town of Dar Tazzah in northwestern Aleppo province, was controlled by a number of insurgent groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
   Russia has however also struck Islamic State areas in a small number of other attacks further east. The Observatory said 12 Islamic State fighters were killed near Raqqa on Thursday, and planes believed to be Russian had also struck the Islamic State-held city of Qarytayn.
   President Vladimir Putin's decision this week to launch air strikes on Syria marks a dramatic escalation of foreign involvement in a 4-year-old civil war in which every major country in the region has a stake.
   Lebanese sources have told Reuters that hundreds of Iranian troops have also arrived in recent days in Syria to participate in a major ground offensive alongside government troops and their Lebanese and Iraqi Shi'ite militia allies.
   Russia's air campaign in a country already being bombed by a US-led coalition of Western and Arab countries means that the Cold War superpower foes Moscow and Washington are now flying combat missions over the same country for the first time since World War Two.

Eastern Europeans to cooperate on border control

   ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — The latest developments in the hundreds of thousands of refugees and other migrants passing through Europe on their way west. All times local.

7:00 p.m.

   Hungary says it is in "constant consultations" with Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia about cooperating on issues of border defense.

   Janos Lazar, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, said Thursday that Orban had talked about the issue with the leaders of the three other countries in the so-called Visegrad Group.

   Lazar said over 291,000 migrants had entered Hungary so far this year, including 87,000 who crossed over from Croatia after Hungary shut down its border with Serbia on Sept. 15 with a 4-meter (13-feet) high fence protected by razor wire, police and military patrols.

   Lazar said that a similar fence being built on the border with Croatia would be completed soon, making it possible "to defend Hungary and Europe."

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4:30 p.m.

   The U.N. refugee agency now predicts that 700,000 refugees and migrants will have traveled to Europe this year, and is seeking nearly $100 million to help handle the influx that has strained the European Union.

   The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on Thursday increased its "emergency appeal" for donations to its Europe program to $128 million, from $30.5 million made just last month. The new appeal would broaden the response in the program beyond Europe to the Middle East and Africa.

   UNHCR upped its already-outdated estimate of migrant and refugee inflows in 2015 from 400,000 previously. The agency estimates that 520,957 people — more than half from Syria — have crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe this year, and some 2,980 people have died trying.

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4:05 p.m.

   Volunteers are closing down a tent camp in Brussels where they have hosted hundreds of migrants seeking shelter in the European Union and say Belgian authorities need to take over their task.

   The camp was set up over a month ago and was used by hundreds of people from war-torn nations like Syria and Iraq who were seeking asylum in Belgium.

   Vanessa Van Strijthem, an organizer at the camp, said that the volunteers would still have an office nearby where refugees could come for help during the day, but would need to refer them to bunk beds the government has set up in an office tower.

   "We're going to keep on fighting but we are only citizens. We need the government to take its responsibility," she said.

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3:20 p.m.

   Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says his country is opposing any large European Union plan for a permanent compulsory redistribution of asylum-seekers among the bloc's 28 nations.

   During a debate on the migrant crisis in the lower house of Parliament on Thursday, Sobotka said: "We're in the middle of a battle over a realistic approach of the entire European Union to the migrant crisis. The Czech Republic will vote against such a proposal. No government would be able to change such a mechanism in the future."

   Last week, EU ministers agreed to redistribute 120,000 asylum-seekers in EU member states despite opposition from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

   Slovakia is planning to challenge that. Sobotka said the EU decision was bad but the Czechs would respect it.

   Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said Thursday EU ministers will discuss the larger plan for the permanent redistribution of the migrants at their Oct. 8 meeting in Luxembourg.

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2:20 p.m.

   The European Union is threatening to take action against Hungary over laws it has introduced to limit the flow of migrants through its territory.

   Hungary introduced laws on Sept. 21 making it a criminal offence to cross its border illegally or damage an anti-migration razor-wire fence it erected.

   The head of the European Commission's migration and protection wing, Laurent Muschel, told EU lawmakers Thursday that there are "a number of issues that we find problematic in their new legislation."

   He said that "we are ready to take any further steps if needed." He did not go into details but said the Commission would lay out its concerns in a letter to Hungary by the end of this week.

   The EU's border agency says more than 155,000 people have crossed Hungary's borders this year.

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1:50 p.m.

   Germany's interior minister is urging migrants arriving in the country to respect other people, show patience and not fight each other, following occasional recent brawls at crowded refugee accommodation.

   Thomas de Maiziere spoke Thursday as he introduced to Parliament a package of measures intended to streamline Germany's handling of the refugee influx.

   Germany has been struggling to accommodate the newcomers and de Maiziere acknowledged that some housing "isn't pleasant." But, he said: "there is no other way at the moment."

   He called for a "culture of recognition" from newcomers — meaning that they should accept local laws and be honest about their identity. He said: "this includes not fighting, this includes having patience and respecting other people, independent of religion and gender."

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1 p.m.

   Croatian police say more than 90,000 migrants have passed through the country and moved on toward Western Europe in little more than two weeks.

   Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said Thursday that only five people remain in one of the two main refugee camps in Croatia, while the rest have already moved on to Hungary.

   Migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia want to reach the rich countries of Western Europe such as Germany and Sweden.

   Croatia became a transit country for migrants in mid-September after Hungary closed its border with Serbia to stop the flow coming that way.

   The migrant tide is not expected to slow amid fears of worsening weather conditions as winter approaches.

Russian ambassador says he regrets words that offended Poles

Russian ambassador to Poland
Sergey Andreev

   WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Russia's ambassador to Poland has partly backtracked from an accusation that Poland bears some blame for starting World War II because of its policies in the 1930s, words that outraged Poles.

   Sergey Andreev said Monday he had no intention of offending the Polish nation and added: "I regret that I wasn't sufficiently precise." But he also said there had been an "unfair interpretation" of his words.

   He spoke to reporters after being summoned to the Foreign Ministry following comments in a TV interview Friday that sparked the uproar.

   The diplomatic spat comes amid deep strains in ties between the two Slavic nations over a number of issues, including Poland's support for sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

   Lately Russia has been making moves to try to emerge from its international isolation, and some analysts in Poland believe that the ambassador's words Friday were meant to elicit a reaction from Polish officials that would make Warsaw appear emotional, anti-Russian and overly focused on the past — thus not a voice to take seriously in international discussions about whether to continue sidelining Moscow.

   World War II began after Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sealed a secret pact in 1939 to divide up Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe. Millions of Polish citizens died in the conflict.

   Andreev on Friday described Soviet actions under dictator Josef Stalin as an act of self-defense, not aggression.

   "Polish policy led to the disaster in September 1939, because during the 1930s Poland repeatedly blocked the formation of a coalition against Hitler's Germany. Poland was therefore partly responsible for the disaster which then took place," Andreev said.

   Poland's Foreign Ministry issued a statement of strong protest on Saturday, accusing Andreev of undermining historical truth, and summoned him for a meeting Monday with a director of the ministry's department on Eastern affairs.

   "During the conversation it was noted that these statements are untrue and contrary to the findings of Polish and Russian historians," Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski said in a statement.

   Andreev was also reminded that even the Soviet Union eventually condemned the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop pact that carved up Eastern Europe and set the stage for World War II, Wojciechowski said.

   The American Jewish Committee denounced the ambassador's original comments as "absurd," noting that the Soviet Union and Germany were allies at that start of the war — until Hitler turned on Stalin in 1941 — and that Poles were murdered by both occupying states.

   In his interview on Friday Andreev said Russian-Polish relations are the worst they have been since 1945, blaming Poland for freezing cultural and political ties. On Monday he said he sticks by that.

   In other incidents that have caused tensions, the graves of Soviet soldiers in Poland were recently vandalized and a Polish town dismantled a monument to a Soviet World War II general. Moscow has protested both incidents.

Russia announces naval drills in 'east Mediterranean'

   Moscow (AFP) --- Russia's defence ministry on Thursday said it will hold naval drills in the "east Mediterranean" in September and October, as the West frets over a military buildup by Moscow in Syria.

   The exercises include three warships from Russia's Black Sea Fleet, including the Saratov landing ship, the Moskva guided missile cruiser and the Smetlivy destroyer, the ministry said in a statement.

   The drills will involve "40 combat exercises, including rocket and artillery fire at sea and airborne targets," the statement said.

   The ministry said that the Mediterranean drills -- which were restarted in early 2013 -- had been planned since the end of last year and did not link them to the conflict in Syria.

   The United States has accused Moscow of sending troops, tanks and fighter jets to Syria in recent weeks, sparking fears that Russia could be preparing to join in fighting alongside its long-standing ally President Bashar al-Assad.

   Syrian officials said this week that they have received new warplanes and sophisticated missiles from Russia and some reports in Russia alleged that Moscow has dispatched soldiers to the war-torn country.

   In an interview with Interfax news agency, the Syrian ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad that Russia's support on the ground "will happen if it is needed."

   "Russia's help will help Syria finally win over terrorist groups," he said, adding that there is a "high level of cooperation" between Syria, Russia and Iran on the conflict.

   Russia officially alerted the airport in Cyprus earlier this month through the international aviation authorities to divert aircraft from the area between Syrian port of Tartus, where Russia has a naval facility, and Cyprus.

   The Moskva cruiser, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, left its base in Crimea on Thursday and is now heading to the exercises, the ministry added separately.

   Russia, which has supported the Syrian regime throughout the four-and-half year conflict that has claimed some 250,000 lives there, says any support is in line with existing military contracts and that personnel have been sent to train the Syrian forces.

France and Britain alarmed by Russian buildup in Syria

   Paris (AFP) --- France and Britain expressed their concern Thursday about the Russian military buildup in Syria after Moscow said it would conduct naval drills in the eastern Mediterranean.

   French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking on a day of intense European diplomacy on the conflict, called on Moscow to justify the "very significant" Russian buildup.

   Le Drian said: "We know what everyone can see, the very significant buildup of Russian forces both in the port of Tartus and above all, with the setting-up of a military airport to the south of Latakia and the presence of several fighter jets, combat helicopters and drone capacity there."

   He said if Russia's main intention was "to protect President Bashar al-Assad", it should say so.

   British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, speaking alongside Le Drian after they held talks, said he was "equally concerned" by the Russian buildup in Syria "which will only complicate what's already a very complicated and difficult situation".

   Fallon warned that the focus on Russia should not divert attention from the need to deal with Islamic State jihadists operating in Syria.

   "We should not divert our focus from the need to deal with the threat of Daesh, the very direct threat to Britain and France, and the instability that Daesh is posing in both Syria and Iraq," he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State (IS).

   The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain are meeting with EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini on Syria in Paris on Thursday.

   Russia's defence ministry said Thursday it will hold naval drills in the eastern Mediterranean region this month and next month.

   It said the exercises had been planned since the end of last year and it did not link them to the Syria conflict.

   Russia has supported the Syrian regime throughout the four-year conflict that has claimed some 250,000 lives.