A Russian Su-24 strike aircraft in the sky over the Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Photo: Dmitriy Vinogradov / RIA Novosti
The Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) destroyed three militant bases in the Syrian governorates of Homs and Deir Ezzor, Major General Yury Popov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, announced on May 16.
“Strikes by Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed three bases of militants who came out of the [United States-controlled] al-Tanf zone and took refuge in hard-to-reach areas of the mountain ranges of al-Amur in the Homs province and al-Bishri in the Deir Ezzor province,” he said.
Al-Amur and al-Bishri mountain ranges are both a part of Syria’s central region, where ISIS cells have been active for years now.
Video footage posted to social media on May 16 showed airstrikes by the VKS against militants hideouts in the region. However, it is unclear if these were the same airstrikes announced by the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria.
Attacks on government forces in the central region increased in recent weeks. At least 21 fighters of the Quds Brigade, a pro-government armed faction of mostly Palestinian fighters in Syria, were killed in an ambush on April 18 near the town of al-Sukhna in the eastern Homs countryside. The attack was blamed on ISIS.
And on May 3 at least 13 fighters of the National Defense Forces were killed in an attack by suspected militants of ISIS in the area of al-Kum, to the north of al-Sukhnah.
Around 200 U.S. troops are usually deployed at garrison in al-Tanf, along with hundreds of militants from a proxy group known as the Syrian Free Army. The coalition maintains a 55-kilometer no-fly zone around al-Tanf. Despite this, VKS warplanes fly over the garrison on a regular basis.
The U.S. claims that it is present in al-Tanf to counter ISIS. Nevertheless, the real purpose of the garrison is to block the strategic Damascus-Baghdad highway. In addition, the garrison is reportedly being used as an outpost to collect intelligence and facilitate Israeli attacks against Syria.
Syrian and Russian officials accused U.S. forces in al-Tanf of training and even arming terrorists, including members of ISIS, more than once in the past.
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since everyone is talking about “terrorists”: how about putin sending some of his own?
americans and zios wants to portrayed this war and aggression on syria as unwinnable for syria, this is psychological war. but things aren’t like that.
also pro turkish wahhabi pigs from idlib went to niger. because niger demolished french colonialists. now we all know what they’re doing in syria, and who is their boss, as well as erdogans.