Putin vows tough military action in Syria

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered his forces in Syria to take tough action against any threats, speaking two weeks after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane in the war-torn country.
"I order you to act as tough as possible," he told a defense meeting. "Any targets threatening the Russian grouping or our land infrastructure should be immediately destroyed. I would like to warn those who would once again try to organised some sort of provocations against our servicemen," he said in a thinly veiled threat to Ankara.
Last month, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border, claiming it violated Turkish airspace.
After the downing of the jet, which led to the deaths of a pilot and another serviceman who tried to rescue him, Russia introduced economic sanctions against Turkey and After the downing of the jet, which led to the deaths of a pilot and another serviceman who tried to rescue him, Russia introduced economic sanctions against Turkey and killing civilians in Syria.
Syria's rebel forces have regularly rejected the possibility of cooperating with the regime or Russia and there has been no evidence of such cooperation. When Russia said in October it was ready to provide air support for Western-backed moderate rebels battling both jihadis and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, those groups ridiculed Moscow, urging it to stop bombing them first.
Russia has been carrying out air strikes in the war-ravaged nation at Assad's request since the end of September, while a US-led coalition is conducting its own campaign targeting the IS group.
Earlier this week Russia said it hit IS targets with missiles fired from a submarine in the Mediterranean for the first time since launching the campaign. Putin rejected claims that Russia is using the Syrian campaign to showcase its top weapons to the West.
"Our actions there are not guided by some unclear abstract geopolitical interests, nor are they guided by a desire to practice and test new weapons systems which is of course important in itself," Putin said. "The most important thing is to prevent the threat to Russia itself." Defence minister Sergei Shoigu said IS jihadis now control 70% of Syrian territory, putting their number at 60,000.