Hours after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and U.S. president-elect, Donald Trump, discussed Syria over the phone and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against what the Kremlin called ”international terrorism and extremism,” Russia launched its major offensive in Syria, according to The Guardian.
Airstrikes hit the rebel-held neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo for the first time in weeks, as Russia announced the start of a major operation in the Syrian provinces of Idlib and Homs involving its aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, The Guardian reports.
The Aleppo strikes killed at least three people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
”Regime aircraft launched strikes and dropped barrel bombs on a number of neighborhoods in the east of Aleppo for the first time since 18 October,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the monitoring group`s director.
The Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said on Tuesday Russia had launched new missile strikes against Islamic State (Isis) militants in Syria, using missiles and jets flying from the Admiral Kuznetsov, which made a much-publicised trip from Russia to Syria`s shores last month.
Shoigu made no mention of Aleppo, where Isis has no presence, but the Observatory said missiles fired from Russian warships in the Mediterranean had struck areas in both Aleppo and Idlib provinces, The Guardian reports.
Syrian state television said Syria`s airforce had carried out strikes against what it called terrorist strongholds and supply depots in Aleppo.
According to the Russian defense minister, the operation also involves the frigate Admiral Grigorovich that has made launches of Kalibr cruise missiles, Bastion coastal defense systems.
See also: Russian forces start large-scale operation in Syria
