Russia urges to abandon double standards in anti-terrorist efforts

MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. Russia calls on the world community to abandon the practice of double standards in what concerns counteracting terrorism to rebuff the Islamic State, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday. "Once again, we urge international regionals parties to abandon the vicious practice of the use of double standards in issues of fighting against terrorism and launch efficient cooperation with the governments of Middle East countries which are repelling the Islamic State," the document said. Islamic State militants seized the Syrian town of Palmyra some 240 km away from Damascus on May 21 and, according to reports coming from that city, are staging mass executions of captivated servicemen, government employees and their relatives. Over the past several days, terrorists have killed about 400 people, including women and children. About 600 more people have been taken out of the city. Their whereabouts are unknow. "We resolutely condemn barbaric actions of armed extremists in Palmyra," the ministry said. We have to state that despite efforts taken by the so-called anti-terrorist coalition led by the United States, the Islamic State is acting ever more actively and stops at nothing to reach its goal - establish a trans-border ‘caliphate’ on a vast area from Damascus to Baghdad." "Ongoing offensive of the Islamic State against the Syrian and Iraqi governmental troops is the most serious challenge not only for Syria and Iraq. It is a threat to stability and security in the entire Middle East," the ministry stressed. "Radicals can be stopped only when the international community pools its efforts on a generally recognized basis of international law, as Russia has been repeatedly saying," the ministry said. Read more