Russian airstrikes have killed at least 18 members of the ISIS terrorist group in central Syria. A number of European nationals were among the slain terrorists.
Photo: Sputnik / Pavel Gerasimov
Russian airstrikes have killed at least 18 members of the ISIS terrorist group in central Syria including near the ancient Semitic city of Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on July 15.
According to SOHR, the aerial attacks were carried out close to Palmyra, situated 215 kilometers (133 miles) northeast of the capital, Damascus, as well as around the town of al-Sukhnah, lacated 220 kilometers (some 140 miles) east of the city of Homs.
The report revealed that a number of European nationals were among the slain terrorists.
The SOHR report was released on the same day that the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu, said that the Russia’s aerial campaign against ISIS terrorist groups in Syria had changed the course of the developments on the ground in favor of the Damascus government.
Syria is embroiled in fighting since March 2011. Russia has been bombing ISIS and al-Nusra Front terrorist groups in Syria at the official request of President Bashar al-Assad since September 2015. According to the estimates of the UN’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, over 400,000 people have been killed during the conflict. However, the UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures that it receives from various sources.