In a post on Facebook, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that they make all their missile strikes public in near real time.
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The battles come amid a wave of intense Russian air strikes that have targeted fighters trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad, and a ground offensive by the Syrian army in the country’s central region. “All our cruise missiles hit their target”, ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
Moscow says it is striking the Islamic State jihadist organisation and “other terrorists”.
The Pentagon said it was “pausing” its own programme to train rebel groups to fight Isil, and would instead focus on equipping and providing direct air support to approved groups. It said the group opened its blitz with a surprise attack on the Infantry Academy, forcing rebels positioned there to withdraw after a number of their fighters were killed or captured.
Mr Thomas Pierret, an expert on Islam in Syria, said the US-led coalition bombing ISIS in Syria was “not very active” in Aleppo, and that Russia’s strikes there had struck mostly rebels, allowing ISIS to push forward.
There was no immediate information on casualties.
The United States and its allies have been waging a year-long air campaign against Islamic State in Syria, while pushing to diplomatically edge Assad from power. However, there were other militants in northern Syria, such as Chechens, that Russian Federation might want to attack.
A Syrian military source said that regime forces had advanced in a key mountain range.
Last week, Moscow made a dramatic entry in the multi-front conflict in its Soviet-era ally Syria, saying it needed to stop Islamic State jihadists before they cross into Russian Federation, which has a large Muslim minority.
Powerful insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham managed to recapture one of the villages, Tel Suseen, later in the day, the Observatory and online media affiliated with the rebels said, but the rest appeared to remain in IS hands.
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On October 9, the NGO Human Rights Watch said at least 17 civilians were killed in the Homs area by Russian air strikes earlier this month and called for an investigation.
