RUSSIA SAYS US *PRETENDING*

Moscow : Moscow last Tuesday accused the United States of reducing its air strikes on the Islamic State group in Iraq-

To allow militants to enter Syria and fight the Russian backed Syrian army.

Military spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said the Syrian regime was attempting to push the militants out of eastern Deir Ezzor province, but the arrivals from Iraq were boosting their numbers.

''The US-led coalition, pretending to fight the IS, largely in Iraq, sees all this but continues allegedly active measures against IS in Syria for some reason,'' he said.

''The continuing arrival of terrorists from Iraq raises serious questions about the anti-terrorist  objectives of the US air force and the so-called ''international coalition''.

The US-led coalition sharply reduced its strikes on Iraq in September, as Syrian forces were beginning to retake Deir Ezzor, Kornashenkov said in a statement.

Over the past month Moscow has repeatedly accused the US of hindering the Russian-backed Syrian army offensive in the east of the country.