Fighting erupts between Syrian government, rebels amid Russian airstrikes
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Fighting erupts between Syrian government, rebels amid Russian airstrikes
Russian warplanes have carried out “intense” new strikes in two Syrian provinces, with government forces launching a simultaneous ground attack on rebels for the first time, said the British-based the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Wednesday. Russian planes hit at least four locations in central Hama Province, and three locations in northwestern Idlib Province, the group said. The group did not have the tolls from the strikes overnight and in the early hours of Wednesday, which were “more intense than usual.”
There was also heavy use of surface-to-surface shelling by the regime in the province.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
Syrian state television meanwhile reported that Russian planes in coordination with Syrian aircraft had carried out strikes against Islamic State group positions in Aleppo Province without specifying when. Hama, Idlib and Aleppo provinces have already been targeted by Russian warplanes in an aerial campaign that began a week ago and which Moscow says targets IS. Syrian rebels and their backers accuse Russia of targeting a whole range of opposition forces, including moderate and Islamist rebels, not only IS fighters.
