Watch Russian Air Power Obliterate Mountain Base Used by US-Trained Militants in Syria

Damascus and Moscow have repeatedly accused Washington of training ex-jihadists at the US-controlled al-Tanf garrison in southern Syria and forming the so-called “New Syrian Army” to attack government forces. Syrian authorities have called on the US to withdraw from al-Tanf, and all other areas of the country that Washington continues to occupy.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has released footage of a series of air strikes on a hidden mountainside base used by US-trained jihadist militants in Syria.

“Target engaged,” the pilot is heard saying in the clip after a precision missile strikes the entrance to the base. The aircraft swings around, with a second missile fired at a second cavernous entrance, with a plume of smoke rising. The crew then searches for a target below the aircraft.

At several points in the video, the onboard computer can be heard heard warning “attack from behind – Roland,” and “attack from behind – Gepard.” It’s not clear from the video whether the Russian aircraft was under attack by jihadist anti-aircraft fire, or whether the warning messages were coming from an overly sensitive computer.

In a brief explainer accompanying the video, the MoD indicated that the strikes took place on August 4, and conducted in the White Desert against militants from the Liwa Shuhada El-Karyatein terrorist group, which was said to be carrying out sabotage attacks against civilian infrastructure and local residents.

The militants were said to have been based at the US-controlled al-Tanf garrison, and to have been “supplied and trained by instructors from the US Army Special Operations Forces,” the ministry indicated.

US media have published a series of reports in recent weeks about alleged increasingly “provocative” behavior by Russian and Iranian forces in Syria aimed at forcing Washington to end its occupation of the country, including aerial operations purportedly involving the “menacing” and harassment of US planes. In June, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that Russia had conducted a “series” of ops against US-trained militants, including a direct attack on the al-Tanf garrison.

The Russian military has not commented on the veracity of this reporting.

In late June, an informed source told Sputnik that the CIA has been engaged in the recruitment of Daesh (ISIS)* militants being held prisoner in Syrian Kurdish-controlled facilities and camps in northeast Syria, and that militants have been transferred to al-Tanf for eventual deployment to Ukraine.

The US military set up the al-Tanf outpost – situated near Syria’s border with Iraq and Jordan, in 2016 after US forces entered Syria on the pretext of fighting Daesh. Syrian authorities have repeatedly called on the US to withdraw from all the territories it continues to illegally occupy.

* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.