“The Nusra Front* drones were launched to conduct aerial shooting of the location of the Syrian army’s positions in the vicinity of the settlement of Qabbani. The Syrian artillery has also used 23-mm guns to destroy unmanned aircrafts, which were equipped with bombs,” a source in the Syrian army told Sputnik.
According to the source, “militants carry out such attacks for fear of a looming large-scale operation in Idlib to liberate the province from terrorists. Nusra Front regularly launches missiles at peaceful areas and farmlands in north Syria.”
The army also targeted the positions of the Huras ad-Din group, which is considered to be affiliated with al-Qaeda and is occupying the settlement of Qabbani and which is also a major stronghold of Nusra terrorists.
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Earlier this month, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov announced that four Russian warplanes had hit Nusra Front positions in Syria’s Idlib province with precision-guided munitions.
“On the 4th of September, at night, the anti-aircraft weapons of Hmeymim Airbase destroyed two terrorist assault UAVs. In total, last month, 47 terrorist unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed… in the area of Russia’s Hmeymim Airbase. On the same day, four planes from the Russian air unit deployed at the Hmeymim Airbase carried out strikes on Nusra Front terrorist group targets in Idlib province with precision-guided munitions,” Konashenkov stated.
While the Syrian government has managed to regain control of most of the country’s territory after seven years of civil war and fighting against terrorists and rebels, the province of Idlib remains a hotbed of terrorists, which authorities are planning to liberate soon by launching a large-scale operation.
*Nusra Front is a terrorist group banned in Russia