Further Developments in Syrian Civil War – Russian Special Forces
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Foreign sources have reported that Russian Special Forces have been assisting the Syrian Army troops in the battle against ISIL terrorists in Badiyeh desert in Central Syria. According to these reports, the most important roles of the Russian special forces in Syria are tactical reconnaissance, forward air control, light fire support (i.e. snipers, anti-tank guided missile teams and mortar detachments) and operational advisory.
A Tabloid newspaper disclosed in mid-March that Russia’s special military units took part in the liberation operation of the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur) alongside the Syrian army.
The Russian newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, published pictures of Russian special forces in Palmyra city, writing that the Russian army’s special forces are skilled snipers who killed a large number of the ISIL commanders so far.
“The Russian special forces helped the Russian pilots hit the ISIL’s military positions in the heights near Palmyra more precisely by monitoring and providing them with intelligence,” the newspaper added. Komsomolskaya Pravda also said that the Russian special troops who were equipped with the state-of-the-art weapons, equipment and modern technology played an important role in recapturing Palmyra by backing the Syrian army troops.
According to netralnews.com, the Russian Special Forces, backed by Moscow Air Force, also participated in the recent military operations in Eastern Hama against ISIL to recapture Aqayrabat as ISIL’s main base in the province which was used by the terrorists to attack the Syrian army positions in the town of Salamiyah. Also, military sources revealed in early May that the Syrian Army troops along with the Russian Special Forces were getting ready to carry out a joint operation against ISIL in Deir Ezzur to lift the siege on the city and airport. They also revealed in late April that Moscow had informed Damascus of its preparedness to dispatch ground troops to Syria.
The sources added that special Russian forces were prepared to be deployed in regions which were experiencing the most pressures by the terrorist groups. The Russian channel, VGTRK TV, released a video mid December 2016 showing the country’s Ministry of Defense’s Special Operation Forces (SOF) in war in Syria. The video actually an interview with one of the officers of SOF, who got home after carrying out his mission in Syria. According to the report, the video displayed some war scenes from Syria, but did not mention anything about the location and time of the SOF operation.
In some parts of the video, a group of SOF were shooting at terrorist groups in different regions in Syria. Russia has begun an aerial operation against the terrorists in Syria since September 2015 at Syrian President Bashar Assad’s request. On September 30, 2015 Russian bombers conducted their first strikes against terrorist targets in Syria, hitting ISIL positions near the cities of Homs and Hama. Although Russia annihilated tens of thousands of terrorists in Syria, the country also suffered military losses.
