Russia touts Syrian gains 2 years after intervention

ALEPPO, Syria — Russia’s military says that Syrian troops have retaken about 85 percent of the territory once controlled by militants, a major turnaround two years after Moscow intervened to lend a hand to its embattled ally.

Russia has been providing air cover for President Bashar Assad’s troops since 2015, changing the tide of the war and giving Syrian and allied troops an advantage over opposition fighters and Islamic State militants.

Lt. Gen. Alexander Lapin announces the gains at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria, saying militants still control some 27,000 square kilometers (10,425 square miles).

Reporters are later flown to Aleppo city, which opposition fighters lost to the Syrian government in late 2016, and where Russian military police patrol some areas.

Syrian troops, with Russian air support and accompanied by Iran-backed fighters, have in recent weeks pushed IS militants out of central Homs province, near the border with Lebanon, and are now fighting them in the oil-rich Deir Ezzor province in the east. A week ago, Syrian troops broke a nearly three-year-old IS siege on government-held parts of the provincial capital.

But activists say civilians are bearing the brunt of the offensive. An overnight airstrike hit Syrians who were recently displaced from Deir el-Zour, killing at least eight civilians.

— AP