MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On September 30, Russia began pinpoint airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria, following a request from Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Russian Aerospace Forces have carried out some 830 strikes, killing several hundred militants and destroying dozens of command centers, and depots used by the terrorists.
More than 300 terrorists were killed in the western province of Latakia, Syrian Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Ali Maihub told reporters Friday.
"In the province of Latakia more than 300 terrorists and vehicles armed with mortars were destroyed near the cities of Salma and Sad Badradun," he specified.
The Syrian Army killed 45 ISIL terrorists travelling in a motorcade in the Hama Governorate, Maihub added.
Moreover, according to him, control over a number of villages in the provinces of Homs and Aleppo has been reinstated.
SEARCH FOR ‘MODERATE’ OPPOSITION
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Syrian leader Bashar Assad agreed with possible Moscow’s support of Syrian opposition factions in case they were ready to fight terrorists.
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reaffirmed that Russia was eager to establish and maintain contacts with any Syrian opposition group interested in the struggle against terrorism and radicalism.
Neither the United States, nor European countries have been able to help Moscow identify "moderate" opposition groups in Syria for possible cooperation in the fight against the ISIL group, he added.
Earlier in October, reports emerged, claiming that former US President Jimmy Carter had given the Russian Embassy in Washington maps with ISIL terrorist locations in Syria after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed the information.
"Jimmy Carter actually turned to the Russian side with the offer of sending us maps created by his Presidential Center with the current locations of opposing sides in Syria, including the positions of the government troops, ISIL, and other groups," Zakharova told journalists.
The maps are not considered classified since most of them could be found on the The Carter Center foundation's website, according to the diplomat.
On Friday, Peskov stated that Putin had familiarized himself with the obtained documents.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks on Syria with his US, Saudi Arabian and Turkish counterparts and held a series of bilateral meetings.
"It is essential to sharply intensify efforts to begin the political process in Syria… This envisages the beginning of full-scale talks between the representatives of the Syrian government and the whole range of opposition, both internal and external, with active support of outside actors," Lavrov told journalists, adding that Russia was taking part in efforts to create conditions for such a process.
Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011, with opposition factions and Islamist terrorist groups such as ISIL and Nusra Front fighting the Syrian Army.
Putin has repeatedly stated that the time frame for Russia’s campaign in Syria would be limited to the Syrian army’s offensive.
