Russian jets hit Daesh ‘capital’

BEIRUT: At least 12 Daesh members have been killed in Russia’s first airstrikes on the terrorist faction’s main Syrian bastion, a monitoring group said on Friday.

Russian air attacks also targeted the Army of Conquest, the most powerful coalition battling Syrian regime forces in the northwest, a security source on the ground said.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow confirmed it had carried out strikes on Raqqa province on Thursday, as well as raids on the provinces of Aleppo in the north, Idlib in the northwest and Hama in central Syria.
The strikes are the first time Russia has targeted Daesh’s stronghold in Raqqa province, the de facto Syrian capital of its self-styled “caliphate.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Su-34 planes hit “a Daesh training camp near the village of Maadan Jadid,” 70 km east of Raqqa city, and “a camouflaged command post at Kasrat Faraj, southwest of Raqqa.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those strikes had killed at least a dozen Daesh fighters.
“Russian strikes on the western edges of Raqqa city, and near the Tabqa military airport, killed 12 Daesh militants,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Activists and Raqqa residents said Daesh had canceled Friday prayers and emptied mosques there, fearing more Russian strikes.
“The residents are very afraid, especially if the Russians are going to operate like regime planes by targeting civilians,” said activist Abu Mohammad who is from Raqqa.
Speaking to AFP via the Internet, he said residents were staying indoors, and Daesh “has started to implement a plan to turn off electricity in a number of areas of the city when planes are overhead.”
Moscow said Friday its warplanes had “conducted 18 sorties on 12 positions held by Daesh in Syria” since Thursday.
It said raids destroyed “a command post and communications center” held by Daesh in Daret Ezza in Aleppo province and “completely destroyed” bunkers and weapons depots in Maaret Al-Numan and Habeet in Idlib province.
Russian raids also hit “a Daesh command post” in Kafr Zeita in Hama province.
On Friday, Daesh launched a fierce attack on Syria’s eastern city of Deir Ezzor and a nearby military airport.