United Nations, September 27 (RHC)-- Russia says that according to international law US-led airstrikes against the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in Syria should be coordinated with the central government in Damascus.

"We believe that any action taken globally, including use of force, to overcome terrorist threats should be done in accordance with international law." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the remarks on Friday, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 69th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.

"It's very important that such cooperation with Syrian authorities is established even now that it's an accomplished fact," Lavrov said, adding: "Excluding Syrian authorities from the struggle that is taking place... not only goes against international law but undermines efficiency."

The Russian foreign minister also reiterated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks made before the airstrikes. During a phone conversation with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Putin had said that the offensive should not be conducted without the permission of Damascus.

In recent months, the Syrian army has been liberating a corridor of territory from Damascus to the Mediterranean coast, recapturing towns and villages along the main north-south highway and in the mountainous al-Qalamoun region along the border with Lebanon.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. More than 191,000 people have been killed in over three years of fighting in the war-ravaged country, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), calling the figure a probable “underestimate of the real total number of people killed.”