Fierce battles in central Syria amid Russian airstrikes
By ALBERT AJI
46 minutes ago
In this photo taken on
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, Syrian army rocket launchers fire near the
village of Morek in Syria. The Syrian army has launched an offensive
this week in central and northwestern Syria aided by Russian airstrikes.
CIA-backed rebels in Syria, who had begun to put serious pressure on
President Bashar Assad’s forces, are now under Russian bombardment with
little prospect of rescue by their American patrons, U.S. officials say.
Over the past week, Russia has directed parts of its air campaign
against U.S.-funded groups and other moderate opposition in a concerted
effort to weaken them, the officials say. (AP Photo/Alexander Kots,
Komsomolskaya Pravda, Photo via AP)
That
offensive marked the first major air-and-ground assault since Moscow
began its military campaign in the country on Sept. 30. Russian
officials say their airstrikes are targeting mainly Islamic State
militants, but most of the strikes are hitting areas where the extremist
group is not present.
The fighting is concentrated in Hama and
the northern Idlib provinces, where a consortium of mainstream rebels as
well as al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, are operating.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists across Syria, said government troops seized control of Atshan on Friday amid intense Russian airstrikes in the region. It said troops also seized the nearby Um Hartein village.
Syrian troops have faced stiff resistance from the rebels, who have used advanced U.S.-made TOW missiles to attack Syrian tanks and armored vehicles.
The Russian defense ministry said in a statement that Russian planes flew 64 sorties and targeted 54 sites in the past 24 hours, without elaborating. Among the sites attacked, it said, were command outposts in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
Russia,
a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has insisted its
airstrikes are targeting the Islamic State group and other terrorists.
But U.S. officials said this week that Russia has directed parts of its
air campaign against U.S.-funded groups and other moderate opposition
groups in a concerted effort to weaken them.
Heavy
fighting was also taking place in the al-Ghab plain in Hama province — a
natural barrier between areas controlled by Sunni Muslims and the
Alawite sect to which Assad and many of his loyalists belong.
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