Multiple reports that Russia is hitting ‘moderate’ rebels, the guys envisioned to help US fight ISIS.

Via Daily Caller:

Reports Wednesday suggest Russia’s first-ever Syrian airstrikes were directed against civilians and Western-backed rebels, not Islamic State.

President Vladimir Putin’s main message at the U.N. General Assembly Monday was the formation of a “truly international” coalition to fight the jihadi group. But there is no evidence that the first Russian foray into the Syrian civil war has done anything besides furthering the government of Bashar Assad, whose strategy has entailed deliberately avoiding battle with Islamic State.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based research outfit, reported that the airstrikes hit Talbisah, a town divided between local rebel groups and various Islamist factions including the local al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. ISW added that “the airstrike did not hit ISIS militants and rather resulted in the a large number of civilian casualties.”

More from Daily Beast:

A Russian general told U.S. officials to quit flying over Syria just before Moscow’s air force blitzed non-ISIS targets.
A Russian general asked the U.S. to remove its planes from Syrian airspace Wednesday, just hours before Russian airstrikes began. In Moscow, lawmakers had earlier approved Vladimir Putin’s request to use armed forces abroad.

The Russian three-star general, who was part of the newly formed intelligence cell with Iraq, Iran, and the Syrian government, arrived in Baghdad at 9 a.m. local time and informed U.S. officials that Russian strikes would be starting imminently—and that the U.S. should refrain from conducting strikes and move any personnel out. The only notice the U.S. received about his visit was a phone call one hour earlier.

The Russian strikes were centered about the city of Homs, according to initial accounts in the local press and in social media. That’s significant, because Homs is not known to be an ISIS stronghold.