Russian special forces operating in Syria, says top commander
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Russia’s top military commander in Syria, Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, claimed in an interview published on Wednesday that Russian special forces have been operating in Syria.
Speaking to the Russian state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily Dvornikov said that they designated targets for Russian bombers to destroy as well as other missions in support of Russian efforts in that country.
"I will not hide the fact that in Syria there are divisions of our special forces. They carry out additional exploration projects for the Russian airstrikes, engage in guiding aircraft against targets in remote areas and undertake other specialist tasks," he explained.
"But we must bear in mind," he added, "that in Syria, similar tasks are undertaken by the United States armed forces and other coalition countries."
He did not say how many were based in the country.
His comments come a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a draw-down of Russian forces in Syria, which has seen a number of warplanes previously based in Russia’s airbase in Syria fly home. Some remain however under the pretext of combating Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, groups who are excluded from the February 27 brought about through US-Russian brokerage.
The United States has, as Dvornikov pointed out, also deployed a small number of special forces to Syria’s northeastern Kurdish region to assist the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their fight against ISIS. They have been training those forces and also guiding US-led coalition airstrikes against that group.
Speaking to the Russian state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily Dvornikov said that they designated targets for Russian bombers to destroy as well as other missions in support of Russian efforts in that country.
"I will not hide the fact that in Syria there are divisions of our special forces. They carry out additional exploration projects for the Russian airstrikes, engage in guiding aircraft against targets in remote areas and undertake other specialist tasks," he explained.
"But we must bear in mind," he added, "that in Syria, similar tasks are undertaken by the United States armed forces and other coalition countries."
He did not say how many were based in the country.
His comments come a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a draw-down of Russian forces in Syria, which has seen a number of warplanes previously based in Russia’s airbase in Syria fly home. Some remain however under the pretext of combating Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, groups who are excluded from the February 27 brought about through US-Russian brokerage.
The United States has, as Dvornikov pointed out, also deployed a small number of special forces to Syria’s northeastern Kurdish region to assist the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their fight against ISIS. They have been training those forces and also guiding US-led coalition airstrikes against that group.