Russian Air Campaign Changes Course of Anti-Daesh War in Syria

Russia’s counterterrorism campaign has long been credited with helping the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) turn the course of the war against Daesh around at a time when Damascus was struggling to contain the foreign-sponsored violent insurgency in the country, the Russian Sputnik reported.

A recently released analysis shows that Russia’s involvement has helped Damascus-led forces to expand territory they control by 1.3 percent.

These gains represent a turnaround in the government’s position.

Moscow has launched a multinational aerial campaign against Daesh and other terrorist groups in late September following a formal request from Damascus. Since then, the SAA, assisted by Russian warplanes, has made steady progress in key battlefront areas across the war-torn Arab country.

Earlier this week, an SAA spokesman announced that Damascus-led forces destroyed 1662 terrorist targets in the areas surrounding Damascus, Homs, Hama, Idleb, Aleppo and Deir Ezzor since December 27.

Last week, the SAA scored a major victory when it pushed rebels out of Salma, a town in northern Latakia which had been a militant stronghold since 2012. On Saturday, Latakia Governor Ibrahim Khder al-Saalem thanked Russia for this achievement.

These developments have helped to pave the way for local ceasefires and kick start a UN-sponsored peace process. UNSC resolution 2254, which was unanimously adopted in mid-December 2015, offers a framework for resolving the crisis, which includes formal negotiations, a nation-wide ceasefire and subsequent elections.

M.T