Russian forces kill militants, destroy drone stockpile in Syria

An officer takes pictures of drones allegedly used during recent attacks on Russia's bases in Syria, at a briefing in the Russian Defence Ministry headquarters in Moscow on January 11, 2018. (AFP)

MOSCOW: Russia's defence ministry said on Friday it had destroyed a stockpile of drones in Syria's Idlib province after militants used drones to attack its bases in the country last week, Russian news agencies reported, and said it had also found and killed the group of militants which attacked its air base in Syria in December.
Two Russian service personnel were killed in a mortar attack on Russia's Hmeimim base in western Syria on Dec. 31.
The militants were found and killed by Russian Special Operations forces, according to the Ministry statement.
Last weekend, rebels launched a drone attack on Hemeimeem and a Russian naval base in Tartus, which Russian military forces repelled.
“During the final stage of the operation a Russian Special Operations unit located the base camp of the militant saboteur group near the western border of Idlib province. As the terrorists arrived at the location, the entire group was eliminated with a high-precision ‘Krasnopol’ weapon as they were about to board a minibus,” the statement read.
Russian military intelligence also found a location in the province where the militants assembled and stored unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The facility was subsequently destroyed with a high-precision strike. 
Russia launched its campaign in Syria in September 2015.