Russian warships have in the past launched cruise missiles at targets in Syria from both the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean. Russian Federation recently began using an Iranian airbase in Hamedan to attack Syria.
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The cruise missile strikes have added an extra punch to the aerial campaign Russian Federation has conducted since September in support of President Bashar Assad’s military.
The main insurgent groups in the city are the Nour el-Din Zenki brigade; the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham group; and the Al-Qaeda linked Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front. The ministry says the missiles destroyed a command facility and a militant camp near the militant-held town of Daret Azzeh, along with a mine-making facility and a weapons facility in the province of Aleppo.
The fighting in Syria’s civil war is showing no signs of slowing down.
Russia’s navy fired the missiles on Friday morning in its first use of cruise missiles against Syria since December previous year.
Ground fighting intensified late on Friday when Kurdish YPG fighters battled Syrian forces, whose air force flew sorties over the city, Kurds and monitors said. The Pentagon said the strikes appear to have been launched by the Syrian government.
These actions required an appropriate response from the army, the statement said.
“We’ve not seen the regime take this kind of action against YPG before”, he said, using an acronym for Syrian Kurdish fighters.
The Pentagon says US-led coalition aircraft have been scrambled in Syria to protect American special ground forces from attack by government jets.
None of the US or coalition troops were injured or otherwise impacted Thursday by the Syrian airstrikes, Davis said.
It added that at least 25 people, including 10 children, were killed during the two-day escalation in Hasakah.
Rami Abdulrahman, Observatory director, said the fighting began this week after pro-government militiamen detained a number of Kurdish youths, a step that had followed advances by Kurdish security forces toward government-held areas. “They were nearby – close enough that it gives us great pause”.
The Syrian military, engaged in a five-year civil conflict, has generally given a wide berth to USA aircraft targeting the Islamic State, as have Russian jets aiding their Syrian ally.
Assad, backed by Russian Federation and Iran, has focused mostly on fighting Sunni Arab rebels who have been battling to oust him in western Syria with support from countries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the US.
Syrian Kurdish factions are closely allied with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), which has repeatedly clashed with the Turkish army for more than a year since fragile peace talks collapsed.
In Hassakeh, after dozens of townspeople fled, fighting broke out anew, a Kurdish official said.
Civilian tells VOA Kurdish YPG areas were targeted during airstrike in Hakasa, Syria, Aug. 19, 2016.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that residents are fleeing the city. And if not, will the United States attack Assad’s air force?
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Since 2012, the Kurdish region has been administrated by local Kurdish forces after government troops largely withdrew to focus on fighting rebels elsewhere.
