Fierce battles in central Syria amid Russian airstrikes

“We are not planning on doing this (conducting a ground operation), and our Syrian friends know about this”, Putin said in an interview broadcast on state-run Rossiya-1 television channel.

“This offensive is meant to confront the rebels in the Sahl al-Ghab plain that is at the intersection of Hama, Latakia and Idlib provinces”, said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

There has been rising tension and fears of World War 3 in the region as Russian Federation has increased its military involvement in Syria, to the dismay of many other countries.

Abdel Rahman also said that a Russian jet was “hit by rebel fire but not downed” over the Mansoura area in Sahel al-Ghab in the province of Hama, where heavy fighting was taking place between rebels and the Syrian army.

Elsewhere in the province, the observatory said a powerful blast ripped through an explosives factory and weapons depot in the ISIS-held town of Al-Bab.

“If there is no vicious counterattack to penetrate the front defensive lines of the regime, the future will be frightening”.

The meeting between the two is the highest-level contact between the Kremlin and a Gulf Arab official since Russian Federation began a campaign of air strikes to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Konashenkov said one of the targets hit near Aleppo was a concealed base for military vehicles, which he said had received a direct hit from an Su-24M bomber.

“Neither Russian Federation nor Syria should use cluster munitions, and both should join the global ban without delay”.

There was no immediate comment from Russia’s Defense Ministry. But US officials said this week that Russian Federation has directed parts of its air campaign against U.S.-funded groups and other moderate opposition groups in a concerted effort to weaken them.

In recent days, Islamic State fighters have taken advantage of the Russian attacks on rival rebel groups to advance near Aleppo in the north of Syria, the Observatory and sources on the ground say.

They have helped train tens of thousands of fighters in a new pro-government militia called the National Defence Forces; provided strategic, tactical and political advice; and taken important roles in key negotiations, including a deal a year ago to evacuate rebels from the besieged Old City section of Homs, The New York Times reported. Tamanah lies on the border with Idlib. The Observatory said there were Russian airstrikes there too.

Russia’s defence ministry said: “Su-34, Su-24M and Su-25SM planes carried out 64 sorties from the Hmeymim air base against 63 targets in the provinces of Hama, Latakia, Idlib and Raqqa”. Russian Federation said its latest wave of raids targeted fighters associated with Isis in Idlib and Aleppo provinces, although the group has little presence in those areas.