“The lack of Coalition strikes has nothing to do with the S400 deployment,” the spokesperson said. “The fluctuation or absence of strikes in Syria reflects the ebb and flow of battle.”
CJTF-OIR reported earlier on Friday that the US-led coalition carried out no airstrikes in Syria against ISIL targets on Thursday, while conducted 18 airstrikes against ISIL terrorist positions in Iraq.
“We strike targets where we find and vet them and in the order we want to attack them. We also dedicate a lot of time and research into developing our targets to ensure maximum effect again ISIL and to minimize the potential for civilian casualties,” the spokesperson added.
Russia has continued its air campaign against the ISIL in Syria, launched at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad on September 30. The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that its attack aircraft carried out sorties against 449 targets in eight Syrian provinces from November 23 to November 26.
The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) is Russia's next-generation air defense system, carrying three different types of missiles capable of destroying aerial targets at short-to-extremely long range.
