Live
Audio Only
The Russian military hit 448 targets belonging to the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-affiliate Nusra Front in Syria over the last three days, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
"Over the last three days, Russian jets made 137 sorties in the Syrian Arab Republic and destroyed 448 facilities of terrorist infrastructure in the provinces of Aleppo, Damascus, Idlib, Latakia, Raqqa, Hama and Homs," Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, was quoted as saying by Russia Today.
The Nusra Front was targeted in several provinces across the country, including Latakia, Hama and Idlib provinces, where several of camps and facilities were destroyed by the Russian airstrikes.
RELATED: Russian Bombs, Like US Bombs, Will Not Bring Peace to Syria
"In the suburbs of Zerba, in the Idlib Province, a large Jabhat al-Nusra command center was destroyed. The facility was established over the course of the last three weeks and it was well camouflaged,” Konashenkov added.
The spokesman added that the Russian air force targeted Islamic State group targets near the capital Damascus destroying a warehouse of unguided missiles, which “regularly supplied militants with unguided missiles that were used to systematically bombard the residential areas of Damascus."
The self-declared capital of the Islamic State group, Raqqa, was also hit. Several arms stores and warehouses in that northern city were targeted. At least 20 fighters were killed in the airstrikes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier this week.
Konashenkov said that Russian fighter jets also conducted surveillance and collected information on the Islamic State group and other terrorist groups operating in the war-torn country using information provided to Moscow by “representatives of the Syrian opposition, the information center in Baghdad and the commanders of the Syrian army.”
RELATED: US Points Bloody Finger to Russian 'Intervention' in Syria
It seems that the Russian operation in Syria, which started Sept. 30 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has forced the terror groups to change tactics in order to avoid being hit or targeted by the Russian jets.
“Armed groups aren’t acting as blatantly as they used to even a month ago," Konashenkov said. “They’re constantly changing routes for arms and ammunition supply, which are mainly carried out at night with all the necessary masking."
The United Nations and other aid groups in Syria say that the four-year long conflict in Syria has so far claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people and displaced millions of people as they attempt to seek refuge in neighboring countries and richer countries in Europe.
RELATED: A Refugee's Story: From War in Syria to Poverty in the US
Newsletter
