Syria: Intell. shows Russian strikes have put militants on the defensive - MoD

Russian Ministry of Defence spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov confirmed on Wednesday that Syrian government forces with the active support of the Russian Air Force had destroyed dozens of militant targets in several Syrian Governorates. Konashenkov said “seven groups of militant forces” near the villages of Aziziyah, Kaferhodat and Telmam were destroyed by the Syrian Arab Army. Russian Sukhoi jets hit several warehouses in Homs, as well as military vehicles of Jabhat al-Nusra in the Hama and Damascus Governorates. “The group of vehicles of ISIL and a warehouse with mortars was destroyed near the town of Berksapo in the Damascus Governorate. Also, several military vehicles were hit in this region: as a result of an airstrike three tanks and two armoured troop carriers were destroyed,” the spokesperson said. “In the suburbs of Kafer Zaita town in the Hama Governorate a Su-24 jet destroyed a Jabhat al-Nusra unit,” he added. Konashenkov also confirmed that units of the Syrian opposition had cooperated with both the Syrian Arab Army and Russian Air Force groups in providing intelligence for the air strikes. As a result of airstrikes carried out by Russian jets in recent days, “terrorist plans to begin a ground operation in Hama city were destroyed." He said, "This information was proven by other intelligence sources and now we are able to see from data received from drones that the militants started a defensive operation,” the MoD official noted.