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News > World

Syria Govt Controls 85% of Country: Russia

  • Syrian troops and their Iranian allies have pushed IS out of the Homs province.

    Syrian troops and their Iranian allies have pushed IS out of the Homs province. | Photo: AFP FILE

Published 13 September 2017
Opinion

“Over 450 terrorists, five tanks and 42 pickups, with heavy machine guns, were liquidated during the operation.”

Russia's military says Syrian troops have liberated about 85 per cent of the war-torn country' territory from militants.

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According to the Russian forces, Syrian troops have now regained control of 85 percent of the country from militants.

Moscow has been providing aerial assistance to the Bashar Assad government troops' in its fight against the Islamic State (IS) since 2015.

A news.au report states that the Syrian troops and their Iranian allies have pushed IS out of the Homs province near the Lebanese border and take the fight to the oil-rich Deir el-Zour province.

Russian chief of staff in Syria, Lieutenant General Alexander Lapin, told reporters that Syrian government forces have yet to wrestle the remaining 15 percent from the extremist group. But, Lapin added that there is an ongoing operation to liberate Dayr al-Zawr.

“Currently the operation to free the city is ongoing. The Syrian military will soon finish off” the terrorists, who “used to occupy the city’s neighborhoods.”

He added that Kalibr cruise missiles had destroyed several of the group's command posts and communication networks. “Over 450 terrorists, five tanks and 42 pickups, with heavy machine guns, were liquidated during the operation,” he said.

Last December, significant breakthrough was made when Syrian-Russian alliance troops retook the city of Aleppo.

Moscow has also facilitated peace negotiations between the armed opposition groups and Damascus to implement ceasefires and establish de-escalation zones.

A sixth round of talks – to create a fourth de-escalation zone – is scheduled to be held in the Kazakh capital city, Astana. Russia, along with Iran and Turkey served as guarantor states in the previous five sittings.

According to a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in August, there have been 7,000 civilians killed by U.S.-led coalition forces between 2014 and 2017 in 42,234 documented airstrikes.

Syria has been in battle with several militant groups since March 2011.

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