Foreign meddling key aim of West-led anti-terror coalitions: Russian official

The real objective of the purported anti-terrorist coalitions established by Western governments is to interfere in the domestic affairs of sovereign states, a top Russian security official said.

Highlighting the Syrian crisis to make his point, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said, “In fact, recently created anti-terrorist coalitions are used for military interventions in the affairs of sovereign states.”

Patrushev made the remarks on Sunday in an interview with the local Kommersant newspaper, in which he further explained that in the Syria scenario, the West has extended support to foreign-backed opposition elements “in an attempt to topple legitimate President Bashar Assad,” saying that is why the so-called coalition strike on ISIL targets within the war-ravaged country are sporadic.

“So if the terrorists are fighting against Assad, they can be regarded as legitimate, and if their actions are detrimental to the US interests, such as in Iraq, the terrorists should be destroyed,” he said.

The Russian official also said that the battle against terrorism by separate countries or by a group of states “cannot be effective in principle.”

“Russia insists that a key coordinating role in countering [terrorism] should be attributed to the United Nations and its Security Council,” Patrushev said.

A US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes in Syria against purported ISIL targets without authorization from Damascus since September 2014. A similar purported anti-terrorist campaign is also underway in Iraq, another hotbed of Takfiri terrorism.

Despite the coalition’s much publicized military campaign, heavily-armed ISIL militants continue to make significant advances in those parts of the country most targeted by the airstrikes.

An estimated 50 percent of Syrian territory is now controlled by ISIL terrorists after they overran the ancient city of Palmyra on May 20, according to the UK-based pro-opposition group called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Patrushev further expressed concerns that “more than 1,000” militants from his country had crossed into the Middle East to join the violent Takfiri groups across the region.

“There are thousands of people from different countries. From Russia, Central Asia, Western Europe, and the United States,” he said.

MFB/HJL/HRB

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir