Over 200 terrorists killed in Russian air raids in Syria

Moscow: Russian warplanes have killed at least 200 terrorists in airstrikes in Syria’s Palmyra. Russia’s Defence Ministry announced that the terrorists had planned to carry out attacks during Syria’s presidential election next month, and therefore it had launched the action. Simultaneously, the terrorists had also built a base in an area controlled by the US military, the Russian army said.

Russian intelligence had received information that the terrorists had set up two bases in the renowned city of Palmyra in Syria’s Homs province. Russian Aerospace Forces launched a series of fierce airstrikes on the bases in Al-Tanf on Monday afternoon, based on the lead. According to the Russian military, the attack caused significant damage, killing an estimated 200 terrorists. Besides that, it destroyed 24 vehicles fitted with machine guns and 500 kilograms of explosives, said Rear Admiral Alexander Karpov, deputy head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria.

Elections will be held in Syria on May 26 next month. It is the second election in Syria since the 2011 civil war that erupted against the Assad regime. Some groups in Syria do not approve of the election. Even so, President Assad’s win in the election is believed certain this time as well. Therefore, the terrorists had planned to destabilise Syria again by launching terrorist attacks. Improvised explosive devices or IEDs were being made at the Al-Tanf camp,” Karpov said.

The Syrian regime or army does not control Al-Tanf in Palmyra. The area has been under US military control since 2016. Also, the Russian military has drawn attention to the fact that terrorist bases were located in this same area. However, Russia has not clarified the organisation to which the terrorists killed in the Russian airstrikes belonged.

Russia has called on the United States and other countries, which have forcefully entered Syria, to respect its sovereignty and withdraw their troops. Russia has underscored that although it has a military presence in Syria, it was deployed there at the request of the Syrian government. Also, Russia urged the United States, Turkey and Iran to withdraw their troops as they had deployed troops in Syria illegally. Nevertheless, all three countries have snubbed Russia’s appeal. Apart from that, Russia has also expressed its displeasure at countries like Israel for launching airstrikes on Iranian military bases and locations in Syria.

Over the past nine years, the Syrian war has killed more than 388,000 people while leaving a significant number displaced from their homes.

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