A Russian Su-24 strike aircraft in the sky over the Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Photo: Dmitriy Vinogradov / RIA Novosti
On April 16, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) carried out more than 25 airstrikes on ISIS cells in Syria’s central region.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the airstrikes targeted hideouts of the terrorists near the towns of al-Resafa and Madan in the southern Raqqa countryside as well as in the outskirts of the town of Ithriyah in the eastern countryside of Hama.
“The number of airstrikes carried out by Russian warplanes on the Syrian desert since the start of April has risen to 310,” the London-based monitoring group said in a report.
The Russian airstrikes were likely a response to a recent attack by ISIS cells which targeted positions of the Syrian National Defense Forces in the area of al-Khur al-Sharqi in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor.
The attack, which took place on April 15, forced NDF troops to withdraw from some of their positions in al-Khur al-Sharqi to the town of al-Mayadin. Both the NDF and ISIS sustained losses in the confrontation.
ISIS is apparently trying to step up its operations and expand its influence in the central region once again. The VKS and Syrian government forces will not likely allow the terrorist group’s plans to materialize. The group’s cells in the region have already sustained some heavy losses.
In the first two weeks of April, 17 terrorists of ISIS were killed and at least 11 others were wounded in central Syria as a result of Russian airstrikes.
