Russia, Turkey conduct joint airstrikes on IS in Syria

MOSCOW (AP) - The Russian military said Wednesday it has teamed up with Turkey to conduct joint airstrikes, coordinated with Damascus, against an Islamic State group's stronghold in northern Syria. It is the first acknowledgement of Russian cooperation in support of Turkey's offensive in the area.

It is also the first incident of indirect coordination between the Turkish and the Syrian governments. Ankara has been calling for the ouster of President Bashar Assad and has supported the armed rebellion against him. Syrian officials have called Turkey's operations on Syrian territories an "occupation."

In a sign of a possible new ground for cooperation in the area, U.S. defense officials said Tuesday the U.S-led coalition have also carried out attacks against IS in the same area - al-Bab, in the province of Aleppo - at a time when Turkish troops have struggled there since November.

Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the military's General Staff said nine Russian warplanes and eight Turkish jets have taken part in the strikes on the outskirts of al-Bab. He said the joint airstrikes were "coordinated with the Syrian side."

Rudskoi's statement was the first acknowledgement of the Russian strikes in support of the Turkish offensive on al-Bab, which began in mid-November.

It highlighted an increasingly close alliance between Russia and Turkey, which last month jointly brokered a Syria truce and are working to prepare Syrian talks in Kazakhstan next week. The two nations have backed opposing sides in the nearly six-year Syrian conflict, with Moscow supporting Assad and Ankara backing his foes.