The FSA, a loose alliance of rebel groups portraying themselves as moderates, has repeatedly accused Moscow of attacking its positions inside Syria and rendering support to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
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“The Russians, they bomb everything”, Raqqawi told BI.
The TOW rockets have been instrumental, he and other commanders said.
Rebels say better organization and new tactics have helped them fight back, as supporters including Saudi Arabia and Qatar send new weapons supplies.
America and its allies carried out a dozen strikes in Syria yesterday, the USA military said in a statement today. There is also Jund al-Aqsa, which last month withdrew from the Army of Conquest alliance of Al-Nusra and Islamist factions, which controls Idlib province in the northwest and parts of neighbouring Hama and Latakia. “They come to the rescue of each other on their different turf”. Friday’s official confirmation shows another worrying escalation in Syria’s civil war, which has already killed 250,000 people and forced millions to flee.
“Russia is sending a message”, he said. “When it comes to urban fighting the Syrian army is still quite limited in its capacities to advance”.
Serving or former Russian soldiers have been geolocated in Syria, bloggers have said today, suggesting the Kremlin’s operation stretches well beyond it’s air campaign. Several different factions continue to hold the area surrounding Aleppo, and the Syrian military’s efforts seem to be going poorly indeed.
A rebel commander on the ground said Morek had been “liberated”, describing it as strategically important.
The battles have continued in the farmland and villages all along the Idlib-Hama border.
It captured Atshan on October 10, but withdrew from it and nearby towns, including Umm Al Haratayn, on Friday.
It was not clear if it was a Russian or a Syrian army airstrike that struck a school in the eastern city of Boukamal.
The Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will join the table, which includes the United States, France and Iran, to continue discussing the possibilities of a political settlement for Syria after four years of fighting.
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Russian warplanes have been striking nearly daily around Kweiras, a base of Assad’s military in Aleppo province that IS fighters have been besieging for months. Top commanders from both Hezbollah and the Iranian contingent have been killed, a sign of the intensity of the battles.
