Russia Helps Block Cross-Border Weapons Supply to ISIL in Syria’s Latakia

The Syrian army with the support of Russian aircraft has blocked the cross-border supply of weapons to the Islamic State militants in the mountainous areas of the Syrian province of Latakia, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In other areas of northern Syria, the Russian Aerospace Forces control all the main routes of delivery of weapons and ammunition preventing them from reaching ISIL militants, he added.

"As a result of repeated airstrikes on militants by the Russian aviation, the Syrian government forces have taken full control over the mountainous areas in the north of the province of Latakia, thereby completely blocking the cross-border supply of weapons, ammunition and other assets of the terrorists in the province," ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

Russia launched airstrikes against the ISIL group and other terrorist targets in Syria at the request of its president, Bashar Assad, on September 30.

So far, Russian warplanes have destroyed over 3,000 terrorist targets. Several hundreds of militants have been killed, dozens of command centers and depots were destroyed.