Yegorov said at a news conference that the strikes by the Aerospace Forces killed 100 radicals, destroyed a command post, depots of ammunitions, weapons and materiel resources, the headquarters of the camp and up to 15 vehicles with machine guns
He said militants continue clashes in Syria’s northwest, which is controlled by Turkey, as the Jabhat al-Nusra (designated as a terrorist group and banned in Russia), Jabhat al-Shamiyah and Feilak al-Sham groups divide areas of influence, TASS, reports
The Cradle writes about 45 confirmed deaths among the terrorists backed by US & Turkey: Russian Aerospace Forces launched several airstrikes pummeling positions of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formally known as Jabhat al-Nusra, in the last major opposition bastion of Idlib, killing 45 militants of the organization, including leaders and field commanders Bilal Saeed and Abu Dujana al-Diri, that were eliminated.
“The eliminated extremists are directly involved in attacks on the Syrian military and civilians in the de-escalation zone in Idlib, as well as in preparing for sabotage and terrorist acts in the territories controlled by the Syrian government.” The Russian center claimed.
The statement also indicated that HTS had previously launched at least five rockets on the Syrian army-held territories in southeastern Idlib, three attacks in Aleppo, and two others in rural Latakia.
On 12 September, the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria registered three bombings carried out by the foreign-backed hardline group in Syria’s Idlib.
The last pocket of the anti-Assad opposition includes large swathes of the Idlib province and parts of the neighboring Aleppo, Hama, as well as Latakia governorates.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, spearheaded by ex-members of Syria’s former Al-Qaeda franchise, is the predominant group in the region. Other armed groups are also active, with varying degrees of Turkish support.
Two years ago, a deal brokered between Russia and Turkey ended the fighting between the government troops and opposition factions.
The Russian direct assistance, which began in September of 2015 at the official request of the Syrian government, has proven influential as Syria has managed to regain control over vital areas across the country, from the ISIS terrorist group and other foreign-backed factions.
Earlier, South Front reported: On October 16, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out a series of airstrikes on positions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) near the towns of Azaz, Qatmah and Kafr Jennah in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo.
The airstrikes hit several posts of the al-Shamiya Front, a faction of the SNA’s 3rd Corps, as well as a large training camp of the Suqur al-Shamal Brigade, a member of the so-called Liberation and Construction Movement within the SNA’s 1st Corps.
As a result of the airstrikes, at least two militants were killed and nine others were wounded. An unknown number of vehicles and weapons were also destroyed.
Russian warplanes rarely attack Turkish-occupied areas in the northern Aleppo countryside. The last series of airstrikes came just a day after the end of a fierce battle between the 3rd Corps and al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The battle ended with a dangerous agreement that granted HTS much influence over Turkish-occupied areas, especially the area of Afrin.
The northern Aleppo countryside is governed by a de-escalation agreement that was brokered by Russia and Turkey years ago. However, the agreement rejects the presence of terrorist group in the region.
With HTS now in control of Afrin and a few other Turkish-occupied areas in the northern Aleppo countryside, the de-escalation agreement will not likely hold up for too long.
The Russian airstrikes on Azaz, Qatmah and Kafr Jannah were likely meant as a warning to both Turkish-backed militants and HTS. The collapse of the de-escalation agreement will mean that Syrian government forces and their allies will be free to conduct counter-terrorism operations in the northern Aleppo countryside, similar to the operations they conduct from time to time in the HTS-occupied region of Greater Idlib.
Many Syrian opposition activists in the northern Aleppo countryside are already calling for mass protests to expel HTS from the region to safe the de-escalation agreement.
2712070 10/04/2015 Russian servicemen attach a Kh-25 high-precision missile to a Su-24 aircraft at the Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Dmitriy Vinogradov/RIA Novosti