Further airstrikes by Russian warplanes had also totally disrupted the terrorists’ command system in several Syrian provinces, said Col. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian Army General Staff, Russia’s government-backed news site Tass reported Thursday.
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French President Francois Hollande will visit Washington and Moscow next week for talks on pooling US, Russian and French efforts against IS.
Illegally sold oil is a major source of income for Islamic State, and in recent weeks both Russian Federation and the USA have been targeting their so-called “pipeline on wheels”.
Up until now Paris has objected to Moscow’s alliance with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, insisting that he has to be toppled, but that stance seems to be softening.
Other strategic bombers flying over Russian territory fired cruise missiles at the Idlib and Aleppo provinces.
Despite a violent crackdown on activists and internet access, one group continues to monitor the de-facto Isis capital and the terror group’s activities – ‘Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently’ (Raqqa SL).
Kartapolov said that Russian aviation had already destroyed some 500 fuel trucks over the past “few days” transporting oil from Syria to refineries in Iraq.
Around 55 Iranian military personnel have been killed in Syria’s civil war, Israeli intelligence believes, and a think-tank close to Israel’s spy services said the toll is undermining support among Iranians for Iran’s actions in Syria. Another said it would be a deal-breaker if the US tries to make Assad’s ouster a precondition for an agreement on concerted action in Syria.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters Wednesday that his country won’t agree to bar the Syrian leader from political life, and called on other countries to renounce any link between Assad’s future and the battle against Islamic State.
