Russian Warplanes Support Syrian Army Advance in Mountainous N Latakia

"The Syrian army alongside the National Defense Forces (NDF) launched massive operations in the mountainous regions of Northern Lattakia, and completed their control over vast territories after killing or wounding scores of militants," FARS quoted sources as saying.

The army's new offensive came after the government troops, supported by Russian airstrikes, completed control over Jabal al-Nuba (al-Nuba Mountains) and Jabal Sheikh al-Sayyid near the border with Turkey.

Dozens of militants were killed and many more wounded in the fighting, sources said.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the Syrian forces continued their military operations to regain control of Salma, a key city in Latakia, from Islamist militants.

In another development, the Russian fighter jets launched a series of air raids on Daesh militants' strongholds in several areas across Latakia.

In particular, the Russian warplanes targeted terrorists' positions in the mountain of al-Nuba and the city of Salma in Latakia's northern countryside.

According to sources, defense lines of Daesh militants in a region between al-Koz and al-Aswad al-Kabir mountains were massively stormed by the Syrian government forces, who pushed back the terrorists from their positions and regained a whole array of strategic heights.

Earlier that day, the Russian upper house of parliament unanimously supported the request of President Vladimir Putin to deploy units of the Russian Aerospace Forces abroad. Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad confirmed that Syrian Army strikes, supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces, were carried out against armed terrorist organizations, not political opposition factions or civilians.