"If Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam fully sever ties with Jabhat al-Nusra and guarantee to fight it as a terrorist organization, then they will not be the targets of bombings on all sides. That is why you cannot blame the Russian Aerospace Forces for the bombings, they are bombarding terrorists, Jabhat al-Nusra," Jamil told RIA Novosti.
Ahrar ash-Sham, a Sunni Islamist and Salafist coalition comprising up to 20,000 fighters, is said to be aligned with the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate, and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group. Jaysh al-Islam is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier on Wednesday that the Russian air campaign in Syria would continue until terrorist groups including the Nusra Front and Daesh had been defeated.
The Russian anti-terrorist air campaign in Syria began on September 30, having been approved by the Russian parliament following a request from the Syrian leadership.
Mid-January data from the Russian General Staff indicates that the Russian forces carried out over 5,600 sorties and 97 cruise missile launches in the first 100 days of the counterterrorism operation in Syria. Russian combat aircraft destroyed thousands of terrorist targets, including several hundred militants, dozens of command centers and depots.
