Russia aircraft carrier jets conduct first Syria anti-terror strikes
on
Russia says warplanes flying
from its aircraft carrier, which was recently deployed off Syria, have
conducted their first strikes against foreign-backed terrorists active
in the war-torn Arab country.
Russia’s TASS news agency
quoted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as making the announcement in a
meeting with President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi
on Tuesday.
"Today at 10:30 and 11 (0730 and 0800
GMT), we started a major operation to conduct mass fire damage … in the
Idlib and Homs provinces” targeting positions held by terrorist groups
of Daesh and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front,"
Shoigu said, adding, "For the first time in our naval history,” Russia’s
only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, took part in combat
operations.
The Russian defense minister further
noted that jets will target ammunition depots, training camps and
armaments factories, whose products are used against civilians in Syria.
The
Admiral Kuznetsov was deployed from the Arctic to the eastern
Mediterranean last month, joining around 10 other Russian vessels
already off the Syrian coast. Syrian aircraft target terrorists in Aleppo
Meanwhile,
unnamed Syrian special sources told state television that Syrian jets
had carried out air raids against terrorist strongholds and supply
depots in the old city of Aleppo on Tuesday.
A Syrian army jet takes off from al-Dumayr military airport near Damascus on April 8, 2016. The
announcement came as Russian and Syrian warplanes had not conducted any
anti-terror aerial attacks in Aleppo since October 18.
Moscow has
introduced a series of unilateral truces in Aleppo to allow civilian
and terrorists to quit the city’s militant-held eastern parts. It,
however, argues that the cessation of hostilities had no tangible
results as militants opened fire on people coming in or out of the city
irrespective of the truces.
Residents in Aleppo's eastern regions
said on Sunday that they had received text messages from the Syrian army
urging terrorists to leave the city within 24 hours.
"Those who
want to save their lives must put down their weapons and their safety
will be guaranteed. After the end of this period, the planned strategic
offensive will begin," the message read.
Since March 2011, Syria
has been hit by militancy it blames on some Western states and their
regional allies. Russia has been conducting air raids against Daesh and
other terrorist groups in the Middle Eastern country at the Damascus
government’s request for more than a year now.
Source: http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/11/15/493725/Russia-Syria-Sergei-Shoigu