The head of a FSA rebel group that helped capture Morek from government forces on Thursday, Fursan al-Haq, said TOW missiles had “a great role” there, in addition to unity among insurgent groups and their high morale.
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Elsewhere today, at least 10 people were killed in Syrian government air strikes on a town held by the Islamic State group in northern Aleppo province.
The fighting suggests the Russians may run into the same reality as the 13-month-old American-led air campaign against the Islamic State group in Syria: Air power doesn’t automatically translate into victories on the ground. The loss comes in spite of renewed focus on the Hama Province, with Syria’s military getting backing from Russian warplanes in the area.
“It looks like we are going to see several offenses as part of this military intervention, they are in for another few months of action”, Kofman said.
The largest foreign military fighting for Syrian President Bashar Assad is Hezbollah.
Advancing IS forces had severed the road late last month.
The only death the Russian government has reported was that of a serviceman who the military said died by suicide. According to a survey compiled by the Institute for the Study of War, out of 64 targets attacked in air strikes by Russian Federation during the first three weeks of its campaign, a maximum of 15 were in areas held by IS.
Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that the anti-aircraft missiles are there to protect Russian fighter jets from a possible attack or hijack while on missions. If you did, you certainly wouldn’t find those diplomats confident in the notion that the two major regional rivals antagonizing one another in Syria-Saudi Arabia and Iran-would agree to sit down in the same room and hear each other out.
“If it is determined that a non-state actor such as ISIL was also using chemical weapons, such use would be consistent with ISIL’s record of complete disregard for human rights and worldwide norms and values”, Kirby said, using an alternate acronym for Islamic State.
Rebels have not released a number of those killed from their ranks in fighting for Morek, Muhammad said.
That being said, Russian Federation is also a signatory of the communique so clearly the support is malleable at best.
The USA defence official added that Russian Federation has deployed helicopter gunships to Hamah, Al-Shayrat, and Tiyas, while all of the 34 fixed-wing aircraft remain at the Humaymin Air Base in Latakia province. Backed by the strikes, Syrian troops have been trying to reach Kweiras and break the siege.
IS fighters have lashed back.
Government planes regularly bombard the eastern part of the city and rebels fire rockets into the west.
Several rebel commanders said Russia’s entry in to the battle only encourages them by showing how reliant Assad is on his allies.
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When asked by Reuters if saving Assad was a matter of principle for Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, “Absolutely not, we never said that”. “Even though we are the weakest link in the Syrian conflict, we will win with our weapons”.
