Syrian Troops, Russian Jets Launch Attack in Ghab Plain
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Syrian troops and allied forces backed by Russian airstrikes attacked terrorists in the Ghab Plain in western Syria on Thursday, and the army chief said a major offensive was underway to recapture territory from militants.
The terrorists’ advance into the Ghab region nearly two months ago had threatened the coastal region vital to President Bashar al-Assad's control of western Syria.
Ground forces targeted terrorist-held areas in the Ghab Plain with heavy barrages of surface-to-surface missiles as Russian jets bombed from above, Reuters reported.
Syrian armed forces "have launched wide-ranging attacks to deal with the terrorist groups, and to liberate the areas which had suffered from the terrorist rule and crimes," Lt. Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub was quoted as saying by state media.
Ayoub did not specify the areas being targeted. He said new fighting groups, including one called the Fourth Assault Corps, had been set up to wage the campaign and the army now held the military initiative.
Wednesday's operation in Hama appeared to be the first major assault coordinated between Syrian troops and forces on the ground, and Russian warplanes and ships firing missiles from the Caspian Sea.
Recapturing it from the alliance of terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda's Nusra Front which thrust into the area in late July, would help secure Assad's coastal heartlands and could provide a platform to drive the terrorists back from other areas.
Russia has spent a week delivering airstrikes at terrorist forces in Syria, conducting over 120 combat sorties. Now the Navy is joining Russia’s Air Force in the operation.
In the most recent development, four Russian Navy warships fired a total of 26 missiles at the positions of the terrorist group ISIL in Syria, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced.