More than 45 militants of Al-Nusra Front terrorist group have been killed in a Russian airstrike in Syria's Idlib province, Maj. Gen. Oleg Egorov, deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, confirmed on Sunday.

"On September 17, the Russian Aerospace Forces conducted a group air strike on the base of Jabhat Al-Nusra terrorist organization in the Sheikh Youssef area in Idlib province. The strike destroyed an arms depot, two materiel depots, and killed more than 45 militants, including field commanders Bilal Sayyid and Abu Dujana Al-Diri," Egorov told a briefing.

According to Egorov, the terrorists killed in the strike were directly involved in attacks on Syrian soldiers and civilians, as well as preparing sabotage and terrorist activities in Idlib.

US planning attack on civilians to blame Syrian army

Earlier, Egorov warned that US-supported militants are in the works of carrying out a false-flag attack against civilians in the strategic Al-Tanf region, located near the borders of Iraq and Jordan, to incriminate Syrian government forces.

The deputy head of the Center for Reconciliation stated via an RIA Novosti report that the center received intel regarding members of the Maghawir Al-Thawra terrorist group who are readying to launch an attack that would point the blame on Syrian army troops for indiscriminate strikes on civilian infrastructure and residential areas. 

The report added that the US military are intending to intensify the presence of Maghawir Al-Thawra terrorists and allied Takfiris, with the aim of deploying them to areas in the Northern and Eastern parts of Syria under the control of the militants from the US-supported so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Russian Center: Al-Nusra shelled Idlib three times

On September 11, the Center for Reconciliation announced that the militants of Al-Nusra Front carried out three bombing attacks against the Idlib de-escalation region in northwest Syria during the last 24 hours.

Egorov said that three cases of bombing by the terrorist Al Nusra Front were recorded in Idlib. On Friday, the center announced the liquidation of more than 20 Al-Nusra Front leaders and officials who were responsible for training militants and financing armed formations.

The Idlib de-escalation zone, which includes the Idlib governorate and parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia governorates, is the last stronghold of Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham militants, whose backbone is Al-Nusra Front, as well as Turkey-backed militants.