Russia strikes Islamic State weapons, oil in Syria
Kremlin says it destroyed one of the main headquarters of the terrorist group
The Syrian military on Saturday published video footage of several airstrikes carried out by the Russian army against Islamic State targets across the war-torn region, including the terror group’s oil reserves.
“We’ve attacked many terrorist bases, hits were identified on targets and much damage was caused to the terrorist infrastructure,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement following the release of the footage.
Channel 2 television reported that the targets struck by the Russian military included a training facility, a weapons storehouse, a massive oil refinery, and numerous oil tankers.
“We operated primarily against the illegal oil trade routes in Syria, and nearly 2,000 tankers that were in the hands of the terrorists were destroyed, a source in the Kremlin said, according to Channel 2.
The Kremlin said it had also hit “one of the main headquarters of the militants” in an airstrike on an undisclosed location.
The strikes came as Russia President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama push rival plans on ways to defeat the Islamic State group in Syria and on the future role of the country’s embattled leader Bashar Assad.
Putin is seeking to muscle his way back onto the world stage after months of Western isolation following Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and support for a separatist insurgency in the east of the ex-Soviet country.