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Ground troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have launched a major offensive in central Syria backed by Russian airstrikes, in an escalation in Moscow’s week-long campaign, which has so far been restricted to bombing runs to soften up rebel positions near major loyalist strongholds.
Russian warships fired missiles into Syria from the Caspian Sea - more than 900 miles away – for the first time. Defence minister Sergei Shoigu said four warships launched 26 rockets at Islamic State targets.
Ukraine has started withdrawing tanks and light artillery from the frontline in the eastern region of Luhansk in line with an agreement with Russian-backed separatists, Kiev’s military said on Monday.
Ukraine and separatist leaders agreed last week to extend a pull-back of weapons in eastern Ukraine, which rebels said could mean an “end to the war” with the Ukrainian government.
Russian planes have flown 20 sorties in Syria and struck 10 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets in the past 24 hours, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Russia has said it would step up its air strikes in Syria, escalating a military intervention which Moscow launched on Wednesday to weaken ISIS militants, but which Western powers say aims to support President Bashar al-Assad.
The Turkish Army announced in a statement on Wednesday that its warplanes bombarded 24 terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in Dağlıca and Yüksekova, Hakkari province, in southeast Turkey after two soldiers and a police officer were killed in separate ambushes by the PKK in the Şemdinli district of Hakkari and Kozluk, Batman province, on Tuesday evening.
According to a statement in the website of the General Staff, storage facilities and shelters of the PKK were destroyed during the bombing. One terrorist was also killed and two more surrendered themselves to Turkish armed forces, the statement said.
The Russian Air Force has begun carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
“In accordance with the decision of the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armed Forces, Vladimir Putin, warplanes of the Russian Air Space Forces today [Wednesday] have started an aerial operation, involving pinpoint strikes on ground targets of Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL] terrorists in Syria,” spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said.