Russian Su-25 attack aircraft take off from the Khmeimim airbase in Syria © Dmitriy Vinogradov / Sputnik
On November 9, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out a series of airstrikes on ISIS’s areas of influence in Syria’s central region.
The airstrikes targeted hideouts of the terrorist group’s cells, including caves and dens, near the town of Resafa in the southern Raqqa countryside. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, several terrorists of ISIS were killed or wounded as a result of the airstrikes.
ISIS remaining cells in central Syria have recently turned the southern countryside of Raqqa into their main stronghold in the region.
In order to address this threat, early on in November, the Syrian Arab Army deployed a large, heavily-armed force from the elite 25th Special Mission Forces Division, commonly known as the Tiger Forces, along a key road between Raqqa and Hama.
The force established at least 20 positions along the road that starts in the town of al-San in the eastern countryside of Hama and ends up in the town of al-Tabqah in the southern Raqqa countryside.
The deployment of the 25thSpecial Mission Forces Division along the al-San-Tabqah road and the recent Russian airstrikes on Resafa may be a part of ongoing preparations for a new Russian-backed operation against ISIS cells in the southern Raqqa countryside. A new operation won’t end ISIS insurgency in central Syria. However, it can help improve the security situation in the region.
Meh on all things Russian MOD.