Islamic State militants have lost “most” of their ammunition, heavy vehicles and equipment in Russian airstrikes, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday, as Moscow continues to destroy terrorists in Syria.
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“Russia will be defeated”, IS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani said in an audio recording posted online, calling on “Muslims everywhere to launch jihad against the Russians and the Americans”.
“Today there are fierce battles between us and Daesh in Ahras, Tel Jabin, and rural northern Aleppo”, said Hassan Haj Ali, head of the Liwa Suqour al-Jabal rebel group, using the name Daesh for Islamic State.
Washington has been increasing support for rebel groups it backs in Syria, and one group said Tuesday that US-made anti-tank missiles were turning the tide in a major battle in the country’s centre and northwest.
US officials and outside experts say the Obama administration is unlikely to protect CIA-backed rebels from Russian air strikes – by providing them with surface-to-air missiles, for example – for fear they could fall into the wrong hands and be used against passenger jets in a terrorist attack.
On Sunday, four C-17 planes accompanied by fighter escort dropped 119 pallets containing bullets and grenades to the Syrian Arab Coalition, an umbrella group uniting moderate rebels, The Times reports.
“If the Russian army kills the people of Syria, then kill their people”, he said late Monday in a call to jihadists in the Caucasus. There is a U.S.-led coalition that works with fighters from the region to attack the Islamic State.
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said the talks between the U.S. and Russian militaries would aim to ensure Moscow follows “basic safety procedures” over Syria.
Iran, another Assad ally, has sent military advisers to aid his forces but denies sending combat troops to Syria.
“The war in Syria will make the Russians forget the horrors that they found in Afghanistan”, Jolani said, adding: “They will be shattered, with God’s permission, on Syria’s doorstep”.
He said the Iranian fighters were arriving at Damascus airport and transported to a military base in the coastal town of Latakia from where they were deploying on the ground – mainly in the central Hama province and northern Aleppo province.
But Putin said he’d be willing to join forces with the Americans in the fight against ISIS in Syria.
“Delay the disputes until the demise and smashing of the Western Crusader and Russian campaign on Syrian land”, he said. “The situation in terms of ammunition and weapons with the Syrian opposition is excellent”.
The Observatory’s director, Rami Abdulrahman, said the rebels were using significant numbers of TOWs.
The main goal is to secure the strategic Hama-Aleppo highway and seize the key rebel-held town of Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib province, which Assad’s forces lost in April to insurgents that included al-Qaida’s Nusra Front.
They are “bombing in locations that are not connected” to Isis, he added.
In Damascus, Russia’s embassy was struck by two rockets, sparking panic among a few 300 people waving Russian flags and pictures of Putin in support of Moscow’s intervention.
According to the Observatory, 12 civilians including two children were killed and dozens wounded in government air strikes on Eastern Ghouta, a rebel stronghold east of Damascus.
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That is a sign of increased foreign support for the rebels in response to the Russian-Iranian intervention.
