Syria air-strikes bear fruit, says Russia

DAMASCUS. – A senior military officer said yesterday that the Russian airstrikes had achieved “tangible results” since they started a few days ago, unlike the US-led airstrikes with “no actual results on ground”.

“The Russian airstrikes that have been targeting the armed terrorist groups are a serious and a real contribution in the course of countering terrorism, unlike the alleged strikes by the US-led anti-terror coalition,” the military officer told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The strikes, which started on Wednesday, had notable results, as many terrorists have fled their positions as a result of the Russian strikes.

“There Russian airstrikes have a tangible efficiency,” he said.

“There is information that affirms that there have been direct results to these strikes which were clear with the escape of members of the terrorist groups and there were even division and dispute among the rebels, which came against the backdrop of these strikes.”

He said the militants have not only fled their positions to Turkey, but many IS members have fled from al-Raqqa province, which is the de facto capital of the IS, toward the Iraqi territories.

He added that the Russian air-strikes embarrass the US-led anti-terror coalition in terms of exposing the lack of seriousness of the US strikes, which have been taking place for over a year.

Meanwhile, the pro-government Al-Watan newspaper said yesterday that the Russian air forces carried out 60 strikes against 50 positions of the Jihadi groups, forcing over 600 IS terrorists to flee their positions.

The paper said “the Russian strikes have achieved what 3 000 US strikes failed to achieve in Syria”.

Russia’s participation in the fight against ISIL in Syria could bring some major changes in the balance of power in the Middle East, Semyon Bagdasarov, the director of the Centre for the Middle East and Central Asian Studies, told Radio Sputnik.

“The results of first air-strikes enable the Syrian army to move further into the line of contact with terrorist groups and take control, from what I understand, of the highway between Homs and Damascus.

“That’s why airstrikes are good help to the Syrian army and quite an effective operation,” Bagdasarov told Sputnik.

The political expert added that some countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, will try to hinder the Russian operation in Syria. – Xinhua/Sputnic News.