Syrian government forces supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces have finished an operation to encircle and destroy over 1,500 ISIS members that have entered Syria’s Deir Ezzor province from Iraq, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday.
Konashenkov added that ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) “have suffered biggest losses in recent months.”
According to a text statement of the defense ministry, between September 19 and 29 Russian airstrikes killed 2,359 militants, including 16 field commanders, and injured about 2,700 others. The airstrikes also destroyed 67 outposts, 51 ammunition depots, 27 battle tanks, 21 rocket launchers and nearly 200 specialized vehicles belonging to terrorists.