Militants Shell 7 Settlements in Syria's Latakia in Past 24 Hours - Russian MoD

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Militant groups shelled seven settlements in Syria's Latakia province over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry's Centre for Syrian Reconciliation said in a statement on Thursday.

"Over the past day, terrorists attacked [settlements of] Rwaisat Iskander, Djub al-Zarur, al-Areim, Safsafa, Ikko, Kinsabba, Nahshabba in Latakia province", the statement read.

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Syria has been ravaged by the eight-year war that began in 2011. The nation is being split by the fighting between pro-government troops, which support the Damascus government, militants from various groups, which oppose the administration led by Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Daesh.

The latter has lost its positions in recent years due to massive operations carried out by the Syrian government. In 2015 Russia assisted the Damascus troops in their fight against terrorism and achieved major success, destroying Daesh militants and their infrastructure.

The conflict in the country produced over 5 million refugees and over 6 million internally displaced people. Over 13 million Syrians, nearly half of them children, require humanitarian assistance.

Russia and Turkey, along with Iran, are guarantors of the ceasefire in Syria.

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*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.