The Syrian military has recently started using new types of air and ground weapons supplied by Russia, a Syrian military source told Reuters Thursday, underlining growing Russian support to Damascus that is alarming the United States. "The weapons are highly effective and very accurate, and hit targets precisely," the source said in response to a question about Russian support. "We can say they are all types of weapons – be it air or ground." The source said the army had been trained in the use of the weapons in recent months and was now deploying them, declining to give further details other than saying they were "new types." The Russian government said Thursday its military support for Damascus was aimed at fighting terrorism, safeguarding Syria's statehood and preventing a "total catastrophe" in the region. It includes a larger Russian military presence on the ground in Syria, where President Bashar Assad has faced increased pressure this year from rebels fighting to topple him, but its full scope and intentions remain unclear. Washington, which wants Assad gone from power, has said it believes Russia is undertaking a significant military buildup which could exacerbate the war. Meanwhile, Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said his country would request Russian troops to fight alongside its troops if the need arose but denied there were combat troops there now. "There is no joint fighting on the ground with Russian troops but if we felt such a need we would study it and ask," Moallem told state television. Although the army has so far been able to fight on its own, there was a need for state-of-the-art weapons to tackle the insurgents trying to topple Assad's government, he added. The U.S., along with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have supported insurgents battling to unseat Assad, whose foreign military backing has so far come mostly from Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.A U.S.-led coalition is also bombing ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq, raising the prospect of a potential clash between U.S. and Russian air forces. In a possible sign of newly assertive posture by Assad, the Syrian air force launched heavy airstrikes on the ISIS-held city of Raqqa, an important base of operations for ISIS in Syria often targeted by the U.S.-led coalition. The airstrikes, reported by activists in Raqqa, were not confirmed by the Syrian military. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 18 were killed in the raids that hit several areas in the city and its outskirts, including a maternity hospital. The strikes hit close to at least four ISIS offices, including one used by its self-appointed religious police force, said an activist in Raqqa who was contacted via the Internet and declined to be named for security reasons. Meanwhile, regime air raids on Aleppo city, in the last 24 hours, also left 53 people dead, including 13 children, the Observatory said. The government, which by Assad's own admission faces a military manpower problem, is seeking to shore up control over the cities of the west after losing much of the rest of Syria to an array of insurgents including ISIS. The Obama administration said Wednesday it was considering how to respond to a Russian proposal for military talks over Syria, which may be about "deconfliction" – ensuring that U.S. and Russian aircraft do not come into conflict in Syria. White House spokesman Josh Earnest Thursday said: "The United States "remains open to tactical, practical discussions" with Russia over the fight against ISIS in Syria. The Observatory said government forces had recently started using new weapons including guided air-to-surface missiles. "There are modern weapons that the regime didn't previously have, be they rocket launchers or air-to-ground missiles," said Rami Abdel-Rahman, director of the Observatory. Reuters has previously reported on U.S. assessments that Russia has sent about 200 naval infantry forces, battle tanks, artillery and other equipment to an airfield near Latakia. U.S. officials said Wednesday the United States had identified a small number of Russian helicopters at a Syrian airfield. Russia has been sending about two military cargo flights a day to an air base at Latakia on the government-controlled Syrian coast, U.S. officials say. Also Thursday, the U.N.'s Syria envoy discussed his peace proposals in Damascus. "We will continue the meetings," Staffan de Mistura told reporters after talks with Moallem, declining to elaborate. According to state news agency SANA, de Mistura and Moallem addressed the government's questions about the envoy's proposed 60-page peace plan. The initiative, set to begin this month, was submitted to Damascus in mid-August and would set up four working groups to address safety and protection, counterterrorism, political and legal issues and reconstruction. But de Mistura Thursday said the groups' work would be "for brainstorming and would not be binding," according to his office's spokeswoman Jessy Chahine. De Mistura also met with internal opposition figure Hasan Abdel-Azim, who told journalists he was ready to participate in the envoy's plan. "But fighting terrorism demands first the end of the conflict between the regime and the opposition," Abdel-Azim said. Elsewhere, Britain's Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said in a statement that British airstrikes in Iraq have killed around 330 ISIS fighters since they began in September 2014.
