MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Daesh and the Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham (al-Nusra Front) terrorist groups carried out over 100 terrorist attacks around the Syrian city of Aleppo in the past two months, the Russian General Staff said Monday.
"Terrorist acts they committed in the area of Aleppo have surpassed 100 in the last two months. Over the past week, four terrorist attacks were carried out with 11 suicide bombers, killing over 250 people and wounding about 900," Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy told reporters.
Rudskoy said Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham, previously known as al-Nusra Front, attempted to launch an offensive southwest of Aleppo by deploying up to 5,000 militants on Sunday.
"The attack was preceded by the suicide bombers detonating four fighting vehicles filled with explosives on government troop positions," the official added.
Militants have shelled the Syrian city of Aleppo 30 times in less than a week, killing 42 civilians and wounding 98 others, the Russian General Staff said.
“Residential areas continue to be shelled from regions under the control of terrorist groups. Only since July 28 with the use of mortars and multiple rocket launcher systems, Aleppo neighborhoods where civilians live have been shelled over 30 times. As a result of the shelling, 42 civilians were killed and 98 were wounded,” Rudskoy told reporters.
Russian Defense Ministry Fully Supports UN Proposals on Humanitarian Operation in Aleppo
Russia Defense Ministry is fully supporting the initiative of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on "improving modalities" of the Russia-Syrian humanitarian operation in Aleppo, Rudskoy said.
"The Russian Defense Ministry has closely studied the proposals of UN Special Envoy for Syria de Mistura on improving the modalities of the Russia-Syrian humanitarian operation in Aleppo and fully supports them," Rudskoy told journalists.
On Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Moscow and Damascus had launched a joint large-scale humanitarian relief operation in Aleppo, establishing three corridors for civilians and one for militants wishing to lay down arms. He said Russia offered international organizations working in Syria to join this operation.
On Friday, de Mistura called on Russia to leave humanitarian corridors in Syria to the UN surveillance.
