 39 dead in suspected Russia raids on two Syria markets: monitor Beirut (AFP) Dec 15, 2015 - At least 39 civilians were killed Tuesday in suspected Russian air strikes on two markets in northern Syria, a monitoring group said. The raids killed 16 civilians at a market for fuel in Maarat al-Naasan, a village in Idlib province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Another 23 civilians, including five women, were killed after strikes on a village held by the Islamic State group in the northern Aleppo province. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP four IS jihadists were also killed in those raids on the village of Maskana, which hit a market as well. Both tolls were likely to rise as many people were critically wounded, the Britain-based monitor said. The Observatory relies on a network of sources on the ground to collect its information, and identifies aircraft based on their flight patterns and munitions used. Russia began its air war in Syria on September 30, conducting air strikes against a range of anti-regime armed groups including US-backed rebels and jihadist groups. Moscow has said it is fighting and other "terrorist groups," but its campaign has come under fire by Western officials who accuse the Kremlin of seeking to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. IS has swept across eastern parts of Aleppo province from its bastion in Raqa, fighting both non-jihadist rebels and regime troops along the way. But the northwestern province of Idlib is controlled by the fiercely anti-IS Army of Conquest alliance, led by jihadist rival Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front. More than 250,000 people have died since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, and millions have fled their homes in the war-torn country.
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A Russian cruise missile launched as part of a failed military exercise fell on a residential building on Tuesday, the defence ministry said, adding that no one was hurt.
The missile, which was being tested, "deviated from its trajectory and fell close to the little town of Nyonoksa", nearly 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) north of Moscow, the ministry said in a statement to AFP.
Investigators are probing the incident.
While there were no casualties, the missile crash did start a fire, damaging all four flats in a two-storey building in the town, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity and local media reports cited by TASS news agency.
An experimental surface-to-air missile in April crashed on launch in the same northern region of Arkhangelsk.
France uses first cruise missiles against Islamic State: government
Paris (AFP) Dec 15, 2015 -
The French air force used its first cruise missiles against Islamic State group targets in Iraq on Tuesday, the defence ministry said.
"Launched from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, the raid was made up of a dozen fighter planes equipped with cruise missiles and bombs," the French ministry said in a statement.
The jets targeted buildings in the Al-Qaim area of western Iraq, a civilian neighbourhood that also serves as "a training centre and logistical depot," the ministry said.
The Scalp cruise missiles, which are guided by their own onboard computers, travel over longer distances and with greater precision than normal bombs, which the French ministry claimed was particularly useful in civilian areas.
France, which has been involved in the US-led coalition air strikes in Iraq since September 2014, expanded its strikes to Syria 12 months later.
French President Francois Hollande declared his country at war with the Islamic State group, which controls around a third of Iraq and half of Syria, after IS carried out attacks in Paris last month that killed 130 people.
France sent its aircraft carrier to the region, more than tripling its contingent of fighter jets engaged in strikes against IS, although its operations remain limited because of a lack of clear targets and intelligence on the ground.
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