Russia Causes Anxiety Over Incursions Into Turkish Airspace
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Russia risks the wrath of Middle Eastern allies as it plows ahead with Syria airstrikes, Turkey lashes out. We're live in Moscow in a moment for you. And we'll also get the view from here in the Gulf. Also ahead...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We met the enemy and it's us. I think a lot of the Syrians are also to blame.</s>ANDERSON: Syria's fragmented opposition under the microscope. We trace one man's journey towards disillusionment. Plus, a tense situation in Jerusalem and the West Bank goes from bad to worse. We'll have a live update for you later this hour.</s>ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.</s>ANDERSON: A very good evening. It's just after 7:00 here in the UAE. Russia and the United States have been holding high level discussions on Syria to avoid any unintended incidents resulting from Russia's military action there, that is according at least to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The U.S. hasn't confirmed those talks. Well, Moscow says that it's only striking ISIS and other extremist rebels on the ground, but the U.S. disputes that saying that Russia has been targeting western-backed fighters. And there's a bit of tension between Turkey and Russia. Turkish media report that Ankara now says a Russian fighter jet violated its airspace by mistake, but warned against it happening again. Let's cross to Moscow for you where CNN Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance kicks us off this hour. Matthew, what is the explanation from Moscow on this plane into Turkish airspace?</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've essentially apologized it seems to the Turkish foreign minister for this saying that there was some kind of navigational error and that this kind of incident won't happen again. But of course on Saturday when Turkish F16s were scrambled to intercept a Russian fighter jet, you know, there were a lot of concerns in Ankara that this may be the start of some kind of, you know, disrespect towards Turkish territorial boundaries. The Russians have tried to make it clear that that's not the case and that they will endeavor to make sure this doesn't happen again. But, of course, it's almost inevitable. There are such crowded skies now over Syria that incidents like this may occur. I mean, you've got the NATO -- or the U.S.-led coalition carrying out airstrikes against ISIS. The Turkish military of course as well carrying out its patrols separately along its borders. And then of course the Russian military now carrying out dozens of sorties every day almost, striking at ISIS positions and other positions as well. There's another incident as well, which the Turkish military have identified saying that two of their patrols, F16 airplanes, on patrol were essentially buzzed or locked on to, or harassed is the word they use, by a MiG-29 plane whose nationality could not be identified. Now, the implication is that because it came a day after the interception of the Russian plane that this may have been another Russian incident. But, you know, I think we need a few more facts to get some clarification on that, because the Syrian airforce also have MiG-29s. And, you know, there's been occasions in the past where they've been in contact with, you know, hostile with the Turkish air force. OK, so confusion in the air. We're told, meantime, that the U.S. and Russia have been in talks. Any clearer, briefly, who Russia's targets are in Syria at this point?</s>ANDERSON: Yeah, well, Russia says that it's targeting ISIS, but it's also targeting other terrorist groups as well. It's talked about the al- Nusra front, other groups as well. And the implication is that basically it's not drawing much of a distinction between the opponents of Bashar al- Assad and these essentially striking -- striking at all of them. There's been some confusion over the Free Syria Army, which is of course backed by the United States, backed by other western governments as well. Sergei Lavrov earlier today seeking clarification, he said, on what exactly the FSA is.</s>SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): They talked about the Free Syrian Army, but by now it's a phantom structure. At least I've asked John Kerry to give us some information. Where is this Syrian free army? Who is in charge of it? We would be even ready if it's a real structure with real capacities, armed groups of the patriotic opposition that consists of Syrians. We're ready to make contacts with them. We don't hide that. But so far nobody told us anything. Where and how this Syrian Free Army is functioning or where or how other units of the so-called moderate opposition are functioning.</s>CHANCE: So, again, the Kremlin not really drawing a distinction between the moderate opposition and all the other rebel groups, including ISIS, confronting their ally Bashar al-Assad.</s>ANDERSON: Matthew is in Russia for you tonight. Thank you, Matthew. And it's not just the politicians in Russia weighing in on the Syria debate, take a look at this. A weather forecast on state broadcast at Russia 24. It's not forecasting local highs, though, but the sunny warm temperatures of Syria instead. The presenter then goes no to say the conditions are perfect for Russian airstrikes right now. Well, later in the show we're going to get reaction from the Gulf to Russia's escalating intervention in Syria. We're going to hear from one Syrian who was closely involved in the early opposition movement only to become bitterly disillusioned later (inaudible) here now in the UAE. And as competing anti-ISIS efforts continue in Syria, we take a look at a woman risking her life to help those who know firsthand the brutality of ISIS. Moving on, and the top U.S. general in Afghanistan says Afghan forces asked for an aistrike, which is believed to have hit a hospital in Kunduz, killing 23 people. The charity Medecins Sans Frontiers, or MSF, has called the attack a war crime. The U.S. military has been carrying out airsrikes to help Afghan government forces battle the Taliban in the strategic northern city of Kunduz. The Pentagon is investigating the strike, but MSF wants an independent body to look into the attack instead. Lets get you to the Afghan capital then and Kabul where CNN's Nic Robertson joins me live. Are we any closer, Nic, to finding out exactly what happened?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are getting steps closer, Becky. I mean, disgusted is the precise word that the Doctors Without Borders have used to describe how Afghan officials say that the Taliban were using the hospital as a military base. Doctors Without Borders deny that absolutely. But we are beginning to get more details. I mean, still this morning we understood from NATO that this was a U.S. special forces unit on the ground acting with Afghan national army and that the U.S. special forces were being directly fired upon by the Taliban, that's why the airstrikes came in. Now the U.S. general, General John Campbell who commands the forces here, has given some clarity. This is what he said.</s>GEN. JOHN CAMPBELL, U.S. ARMY: We have now learned that on October 3 Afghan forces advised that they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from U.S. forces. An airstrike was then called to eliminate the Taliban threat and several civilians were accidentally struck. This is different from the initial reports which indicated that U.S. forces were threatened and that the airstrike was called on their behalf.</s>ROBERTSON: And of course what Doctors Without Borders are saying is that they want this investigation -- they want the investigation to be international, independent and transparent. And General John Campbell said there that he would be -- there would be transparency. And I think what we heard from him there was an effort to give that transparency. He also said that there would be accountability for those or if through the investigation people were found to be responsible then they would be held accountable for their actions -- Becky.</s>ANDERSON: Afghan police, Nic, say that Taliban militants were hiding in the hospital. Is there any evidence for those claims?</s>ROBERTSON: If there is evidence, one would expect the investigation to find that. General Campbell said that he's directed General Kim to head the investigation. General Kim is already in Kunduz conducting that investigation. Doctors Without Borders operate, as do all hospitals here, a strict policy of not allowing anyone in the compound with weapons. What we do know is that close to the compound there was a firefight going on that involved the Taliban. The -- it is believed that the Taliban may have fled from that firefight into the compound. What we heard from Doctors Without Borders earlier in the week is that when the Taliban first came into the town, they told the Doctors Without Borders to continue the work at their hospital. So, there is a very -- several very different narratives here. So from the investigation we do not have clarity yet. Should we expect to hear that, yes. Doctors Without Borders hope for it.</s>ANDERSON: Briefly, Nic, the battle for Kunduz goes on and the Taliban is fighting elsewhere as we know in Afghanistan. Just how strong is the Taliban today? And how much of a risk is it to the Afghan government?</s>ROBERTSON: It's a growing threat and problem. There are multiple reasons why. Kunduz is a prime example of that. An ethnically divided city where corruption of government officials may favor one ethnic group and not the other. That undermines support for the government. It allows the Taliban to come enter. Kunduz was the last major city that the Taliban held. This was a reason that they wanted to take it back. They've been planning to do this for some time. We understand that they shifted forces from elsewhere. That when it seems now when they set their eyes on a target city, and there are others in that area that they could also threaten at the moment, then the government here should worry, because the Taliban is becoming more capable. And the Afghan forces are showing a certain level of weakness in that regard. I mean, take for example you know the fact that government forces are still battling Taliban inside Kunduz right now, but the government doesn't even control the main highway linking Kunduz to the capital. The Taliban still have checkpoints on that highway. That's the scale of the difficulty that the Afghan army is in at the moment, Becky.</s>ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is in Kabul in Afghanistan for you this evening. Nic, thank you. Still to come, tensions running high in Jerusalem. After a series of deadly attacks, the new restrictions Israel has put in place in response to the violence. Plus, Russia's airstrikes are alienating its powerful allies in the Gulf, or so it seems. Is it miscalculating in the Middle East? I'll be joined by an expert on the region up next.