Airstrikes are Inadmissible Without Local Gov't Authorization – Official

An international US-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes in Syria and Iraq to stop the advance of the Islamic State.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Airstrikes on the territory of sovereign states without their consent is inadmissible even when fighting terrorism, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Saturday.

"Terrorism can only be defeated by joint efforts. [We] are ready to cooperate with our European partners if international norms on the use of force are strictly observed. Airstrikes on the territory of sovereign states without their consent, as it is happening in Syria, is inadmissible."

Syria, as well as Iraq, are suffering from a major advance of the Islamic State that has captured large swathes in the two countries and is making attempts to branch out to other countries as well, one of them possibly being Afghanistan.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, the deputy minister underscored:

"Even a partial victory of extremists — that is the creation of a mini-caliphate in Iraq and Syria — cannot be allowed. Such victories of al-Qaeda heirs can encourage Islamists of extreme views that can crop up in any part of the world."

Antonov noted that the very emergence of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq required reconsideration of terrorism as an issue in general due to a large scale and significant resources of the group.

ISIL has been operating in Syria since 2012 and in Iraq since 2014. It seeks to take over even larger territory than it already has and establish a caliphate on the areas it controls.

An international coalition of countries, led by the United States, has been carrying out airstrikes on the militants' positions in an effort to stop their advance.