Russia-Syria special-op frees captured troops from jihadists – Damascus
Syrian Army cadets and officers have been rescued in a joint Syrian-Russian counter-terrorism operation carried out to break through a siege by Islamist militants in the northwestern city of Aleppo, the country’s Defense Ministry has said.
According to a statement published on Facebook on Wednesday, cadets from the Assad Military Engineering Academy near Aleppo fought off the terrorists before being aided by “joint Syrian-Russian military-political coordination.”
Jihadists had stormed the academy with various types of medium- and heavy-caliber weapons and advanced drones, the ministry said.
The students were later encircled again by groups of terrorists armed with heavy vehicles, including tanks, artillery, machine guns, and drones, the statement added. As a result, some of the cadets and officers were killed and others injured, although the ministry did not provide figures.
The siege was eventually lifted through a joint Syrian-Russian military cooperation, the ministry added. The academy students have safely arrived in the western city of Homs, where they were provided with the necessary care and medical treatment, the statement said.
The situation in Syria has deteriorated rapidly after the Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) and its allies launched a large-scale surprise attack in the northwestern part of the country last week. The insurgents pushed back government forces and captured significant chunks of territory in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces. Aleppo, which is the second-largest city in the country, had been under Syrian government control since 2016.
HTS is considered a terrorist organization by Syria, Russia, Iran, the US, and several other countries.
Last week’s Islamist attack was the first major clash between jihadist and Syrian government forces since March 2020, when Russia and Türkiye brokered a ceasefire in the country.
Reacting to the resumption of fighting in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced a commitment to the territorial integrity of Syria, saying that Ankara wants the conflict to be resolved in accordance with the “legitimate wishes” of the Syrian people.
Syrian President Bashar Assad has pledged to “eliminate terrorists” and to punish their “sponsors and supporters.” Damascus has long accused Western states and their allies of aiding terrorist groups operating in the region.
The Syrian forces have reportedly succeeded in halting the insurgents in central parts of the country after receiving reinforcements. The Russian expeditionary force in Syria has come to the aid of Damascus by launching constant airstrikes against the militants.
Moscow intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2015, helping to inflict heavy defeats on numerous terrorist groups, most notably al-Nusra and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS). Russia maintains a significant military presence in the country and has bases in Hmeimim and Tartus.
This week, the Kremlin reiterated Russia’s support for the Syrian government, stating that Moscow and Damascus had been in contact and were analyzing ongoing developments.
