Russian Su-25 attack aircraft take off from the Khmeimim airbase in Syria © Dmitriy Vinogradov / Sputnik
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Russian military group in the country eliminated 20 terrorists during a joint operation in the central governorate of Homs, Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said on June 7.
“As part of a special operation to find, block and neutralize terrorist groups operating in the southern provinces of the Syrian Arab Republic, joint detachments of the Syrian army in cooperation with a Russian grouping carried out reconnaissance and search operations in the northern and northeastern areas of the white desert in the Homs province,” the commander said.
Twenty terrorists, nine weapons and ammunition caches and 30 hideouts of terrorist groups were neutralized in the framework of the operation, according to Rear Admiral Gurinov.
The operation was likely launched in response to ISIS increasing attacks in central Syria. A recent report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Longon-based pro-opposition monitoring group, said that the terrorist group carried out ten attacks against government forces and civilians in the region.
As a result of the attacks, 24 service members and pro-government fighters were killed along with two civilians and an unidentified person, according to the group.
The most notable attack by ISIS during May targeted a base near the town of al-Sukhan in the eastern Homs countryside, where Syrian and Russian troops were deployed. Some 150 terrorists participated in the attack, which was eventually repelled. Russian Colonel Oleg Pechevisty lost his life along with other four officers during the clashes.
ISIS attacks continued this month. On June 6, four local farmers were killed by the group’s terrorist while working in a field near al-Sukhnah.
The Syrian-Russian joint operation inflicted heavy losses on terrorists in the region. More similar operations will likely be launched during spring and next summer.
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