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While West Whines, Putin Pulverizes Another 263 Targets (Video)
In
case you've forgotten: the Russian Air Force's tour de force against
ISIS continues
6
November, 2015
The
Russian Air Force has carried out 81 sorties hitting 263 Islamic
State (IS) targets in two days in Syria, the Defense Ministry said in
a statement.
Russian
jets hit targets that mostly belong to Islamic State and other
militants in such provinces as Aleppo, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Idlib,
Latakia, Raqqa, Hama and Homs, Igor Konashenkov, a Defense Ministry
spokesman, said Thursday. After their combat missions all the jets
returned to the Russian Khmeimim airbase in Latakia, he said.
Russian
Su-24M bombers destroyed IS repair facilities with seven armored
vehicles near an airport in Aleppo province, Konashenkov said.
“In
the area of the populated locality of Raqqa, SU-34 bombers hit two
fortified block posts belonging to the terrorists, located on the
outskirts of the city. Direct aerial bomb hits destroyed the
terrorists’ fortified structures housing four units of automobile
and armored vehicles,”
the spokesman said.
He
added that Russian airstrikes also hit a base belonging to one of the
ISIS-affiliated gangs in the gorge of the Jebel-Mgar mountains near
Damascus, destroying a ammunition warehouse, command post and hidden
military equipment.
Su-24
bombers have carried out a strike hitting an IS stronghold near the
city of Tadmur in the Homs province, the ministry said in a
statement. The strike destroyed a tank in a firing position, a ZSU-23
anti-aircraft system, and a mortar battery, he added.
“The
destroyed IS stronghold was located more than 30 kilometers from
ancient Palmyra,”
Konashenkov said. “Let
me point out that Russian aircraft have been hitting only terrorist
targets far away from architectural monuments.”
Su-25 fighters also targeted a warehouse storing anti-tank missile systems belonging to the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front in Idlib province, northwest Syria.
“According
to data obtained via the joint information center in Baghdad, several
days ago a consignment of anti-tank missile systems was delivered to
one of the warehouses located in the area of Maarat al-Numan city in
Idlib province,”
Konashenkov said, adding that the weapons were intended to be used
against the advancing forces of the Syrian army.
“After
the information had been confirmed via several channels, a pair of
SU-25 jets carried out strikes hitting the target and destroying the
warehouse together with its contents.”
Su-34
bombers also destroyed an Al-Nusra training base and ammunition
warehouses near the Al-Muhasan settlement in Deir ez-Zor province,
he added.
During the press conference on Thursday, Konashenkov also made comments in response to recent criticism of Russia’s operation in Syria made by Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland, who testified before the House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.She claimed that the strikes have failed to target terrorists, and are instead targeting “areas where the Assad regime has lost territory to forces led by the moderate opposition,” naming several provinces including Hama, Homs, Aleppo and Idlib.
Konashenkov,
in turn, said that the Russian Air Force has been carrying out
strikes “targeting
not areas, but terrorist infrastructure facilities.”
He
added that Moscow has provided the US-led anti-ISIS coalition’s
military attaches with detailed information on the location of
terrorist facilities in Syria. He stressed that the information that
has been provided has not been contested by either the Pentagon or
the US State Department.
Russia
launched airstrikes targeting ISIS and other terror groups in Syria
on September 30, following a formal request from President Bashar
Assad. Russian aircraft have made over 1,600 sorties and hit more
than 2,000 terrorist facilities since the start of the operation in
Syria, Chief of the Main Operations Department at the Russian General
Staff Colonel-General Andrey Kartapolov said Tuesday
RT
MORE: Russian fighter jet was forced to enter Turkish airspace in early October - Air Force http://on.rt.com/6vj7
More
than 50 aircraft and helicopters, including the Sukhoi Su-34 and
Su-24M bombers, Su-25 attack aircraft, Su-30SM fighters and Mil Mi-8
and Mi-24 helicopters are taking part in Russia’s ongoing military
operation against terror groups in Syria.Russia’s Caspian Flotilla
ships also delivered a massive strike on ISIS targets in Syria using
Kalibr NK ship-born cruise missiles on October 7.
Kremlin
has repeated on multiple occasions that Russia’s military forces
would not take part in any ground operations in Syria.
International Military Rewiev - Syria-Iraq Battlespace, Nov.06.2015
With Russian Air Support Syrian Army Lifts Aleppo Siege
Resupply
route along a key highway reastablished
6
November, 2015
November
5 (Sputnik) - Damascus-led forces assisted by Russian military
aircraft have secured control over the main highway to Aleppo
essentially freeing the strategic Syrian city which had been besieged
for two weeks, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
A
team has already finished disarming explosive devices along the road.
On Wednesday, authorities opened the highway to traffic letting
military equipment, as well as trucks carrying food and fuel through.
Soldiers at checkpoints said that the road would be open to civilians
on Thursday.
Aleppo
is the economic capital of Syria and the largest city in the country.
In 2011, Aleppo had 2.4 million residents, while 1.9 million people
lived in Damascus. Since the outbreak of the civil war Aleppo became
the scene of intense fighting forcing many to flee the city and seek
shelter in Damascus.
Almost
all highways linking Aleppo to Damascus, Latakia, Hama, etc. are
controlled by rebel groups. Some two weeks ago ISIL fighters seized
the so-called “road of life” to Aleppo. It was the only way to
get to Latakia in the West or Hama, Homs and Damascus in the South.
Approximately
1 million people lived in Aleppo when this road was cut off from
those areas of the country which have not been overtaken by rebels.
They were left without fuel, gas and food and prices skyrocketed.
Basic supplies currently cost up to ten times more than in the rest
of Damascus-controlled Syria.
Russian
Air Force jets conduct a pinpoint strike with a BETAB-500
bunker-busting bomb on engineering facilities of the Islamic State in
Aleppo Governorate
There
is no electricity. Locals use diesel generators to charge phones and
light their homes but fuel oil is also a rare commodity.
“We
had to eat food [that we stored before the siege] – buckwheat,
pasta, rice. There is a store located two kilometers away. They sell
everything at inflated prices and it is too dangerous to go there
because of shelling,” Olga, a Russian national living in Aleppo,
told RIA Novosti. She has no water or electricity and has to cook on
fire.
Damascus-led
forces were fighting to free the highway, especially the
Ithriya-Khanaser road, for days. Forcing ISIL fighters was
complicated by the fact that they received supplies from the Syrian
city of Raqqa, the capital of the self-proclaimed caliphate.
On
November 1, militants launched an attack on the city of al-Safira but
the army assisted by the Russian aerial forces warded off the
assault. The next day the army freed the Sheikh Ahmad village,
located to the east of al-Safira. Russian airstrikes in the area
helped turn the situation around.
Interesting
fact: coordinates for some of the targets were provided by the Syrian
opposition, which is fighting against ISIL and al-Nusra Front, Chief
of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the
Russian Armed Forces Andrei Kartapolov said. According to Kartapolov,
although these “patriotic forces” have been engaged in a
months-long fight against government forces, they view unified,
sovereign and free Syria as a priority.
As
ISIL withdrew from the area, militants placed explosive devices along
the Ithriya-Khanaser road. Demining efforts lasted for several days.
Meanwhile,
locals say that Damascus-led forces have also taken the eastern part
of Aleppo, including Midan, Sulaymaniyah, Azizia and other
neighborhoods, under control. The Free Syrian Army is also present in
the city. The FSA is currently holding talks with Damascus and
Moscow. A ceasefire and joint efforts to tackle Islamic radicals are
the main issues on the agenda.
The
western part of the city is controlled by an array of militant groups
including ISIL, al-Nusra Front, as well as other less known
organizations with big names like the Syrian Lions or the Warriors of
Islam. They control many villages to the west of Allepo but the siege
of the strategic city has been lifted.
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