ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Russian warplanes struck 67 targets in intensified air raids in Syria since Thursday, the defense ministry in Moscow said today, reporting 300 Islamist militants killed and claiming the militants were “sustaining significant losses.”
“Among the targets are the communication hubs, command posts, fuel stores and terrorist training bases located located in Raqqa, Latakia, Idlib, Aleppo and Hama,” Russian deputy chief of staff Lieutenant-General Igor Makushev said at a Moscow news conference.
Russia Today, Moscow’s official news outlet, reported him as saying drone footage had verified that a precision hit destroyed the headquarters of Liwa-al-Haqq, one of several Islamist groups fighting against the Bashar al-Assad regime, which Russia backs.
The defense ministry said that a radio intercept confirmed the deaths of 200 fighters and two commanders, who Makushev said belonged to the Islamic State group (ISIS).
Russia Today reported that another 100 Islamists were killed in an airstrike near Aleppo, saying Russian Sukhoi jets destroyed a base and armaments store housed in a former prison.
Russia stepped into the Syrian war – now in its fifth year -- less than a fortnight ago, after months of bombing raids by the US-led coalition have failed to dislodge ISIS and other Islamist groups fighting in Syria.
As Russia announced an intensified military campaign in Syria, the Pentagon said it was shifting its focus on arming rebel groups in Syria, after its $500 million “arm and equip” program of opposition forces in Syria was judged a dismal failure.
Russia, which has been carrying out air raids from a specially-built base outside Latakia in Syria, said that Islamist forces had been hit hard.
“In total the airstrikes destroyed six communication hubs, six armories, 17 training bases and 17 armored vehicles,” Makushev told reporters in Moscow.
“The militants are sustaining significant losses from the airstrikes, and are having to adjust their tactics, spreading out over a wider area, concealing themselves more thoroughly, or hiding in urban settlements,” he claimed.
“In these conditions, the Russian air forces are continuing and intensifying their airstrikes,” Makushev added.
