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Russia is concerned by information that terrorists are training suicide bombers to carry out attacks against Russian facilities and patrols in Syria, Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit, deputy chief of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation in Syria, said on August 2.
“The Russian side is highly concerned by information, indicating that the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group has been actively training suicide terrorists plotting terror attacks against the facilities and patrols of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Army,” the commander said at a briefing.
Al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusra, now known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is the de-facto ruler of the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.
Kulit warned the terrorist group that the Russian military group in Syria will take decisive and harsh measures against any attack attempt against its forces.
“We are urging the commanders of illegal armed formations to reject provocations and to get on the track of a peaceful conflict settlement,” the commander stressed.
In recent months, HTS and its allies in Greater Idlib increased attacks against nearby government-held areas in a violation of a ceasefire that was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than three years ago. Most of the attacks were carried out with rockets and artillery. However, some of them were carried out with armed and suicide drones, which were used in the past to attack Russian military facilities.
The escalation in Greater Idlib appears to be an attempt to sabotage the Turkish-Syrian normalization process which is sponsored by both Russia and Iran.
HTS and its allies believe that an agreement between Ankara and Damascus could lead to a Turkish withdrawal from the region. This would leave the door open for the Syrian military to resume ground operations there.
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