Militants in Syria trying to infiltrate Aleppo, Latakia: Russian MoD

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Aug 2023 08:28
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A senior Russian officer says sabotage and reconnaissance groups of terrorists are attempting to enter beyond the line of contact in the provinces of Aleppo and Latakia.

Russian military vehicles driving in a convoy from the town of Tal Tamr to Qamishli airport, in the city of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Al-Hasakah province, on March 9, 2020 (AFP)

Terrorists are making attempts to cross the line of contact in Syria and enter Aleppo and Latakia provinces from the Idlib de-escalation zone, Vadim Kulit, the deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, confirmed on Tuesday.

"There are attempts by sabotage and reconnaissance groups of terrorists to enter beyond the line of contact in the provinces of Aleppo and Latakia from the territory of the Idlib de-escalation zone," Kulit told a briefing.

He affirmed that "the command of the Russian grouping of troops and the armed forces of Syria are taking all necessary measures to eliminate the terrorist threat to the civilian population and government troops."

A couple of days ago, a senior Russian officer confirmed that Russian and Syrian air forces targeted a command center belonging to Al-Nusra Front in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib that was responsible for coordinating attacks on civilian and military targets.

"A joint airstrike launched by the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Syrian Air Forces destroyed a headquarters of Al-Nusra Front near the city of Idlib," Kulit announced.

"It was run by people responsible for plotting and conducting terror attacks against Syrian government forces and civilians," he added.

He noted that a strike at a car killed a Syrian serviceman and injured four others.

It is noteworthy that on July 19, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that units of the Syrian army had destroyed military equipment and weapons that were used by militant groups in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib, to attack safe areas, and downed drones equipped with explosives.

In late June, the Ministry confirmed that in cooperation with the Russian Air Force, its forces had targeted the headquarters and warehouses of militants in Idlib countryside and destroyed drone-launching sites.

On Tuesday, the Russian official added that US-led international coalition drones breached deconfliction protocols in Syria 10 times over the past 24 hours.

"On August 8, at 07:03 [04:03 am GMT], a dangerous convergence was recorded between an MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle of the coalition and a Su-34 aircraft of the Russian aerospace forces near the settlement of Ain Issa in the province of Raqqa, the distance was less than 100 meters," Kulit pointed out.