- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Russian MoD Doubts UK's Major Role in Defeating Daesh in Syria, Iraq

© Photo : Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation / Go to the mediabankMajor General Igor Konashenkov, the Russian defense ministry's official spokesman
Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Russian defense ministry's official spokesman - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The Russian Ministry of Defense has laughed off the claims of the UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon that the country made a "major contribution" to the campaign against Daesh which accidentally appeared amid the considerable progress made by Syrian government forces with Russian aerial support.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian Defense Ministry doubts London's "major contribution" to the campaign against Daesh terrorist group, which has been recently stated by UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, the Russian ministry's spokesman said on Friday.

On Thursday, Fallon said that London had significantly contributed to combating Daesh since 2014, "forcing this miserable cult from the gates of Baghdad to the brink of defeat in Raqqa." The defense secretary also noted the UK forces' role in striking the terrorists' targets and training their allies' personnel.

"As the defeat of the Daesh in Syria by the Syrian forces assisted by the Russian Aerospace Forces is getting closer, it turned out suddenly that for all these years somewhere behind our back UK Defense Minister Michael Fallon has been most of all helping to destroy terrorists. According to Fallon, the United Kingdom has made a major contribution to the campaign to disrupt the capabilities of the 'miserable cult' of Daesh since 2014… This raises the question: where were all these 'forces of good' in mid-2015 when IS captured a third of Iraq and the wholeof Syria," Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

Russian military air group at Khmeimim airbase in Syria - Sputnik International
Two-Year-Long Russian Air Campaign Dramatically Changed Syrian War
Commenting on Fallon's words that the UK forces have hit Daesh in Syria and Iraq with over 1,500 airstrikes since 2014, Konashenkov noted that the Russian Aerospace Forces had carried out over 99,000 strikes in Syria alone which subsequently lead to the turning-point in the fight against the terrorists.

Syria has been in a state of civil war for over six years, with government forces fighting against both opposition groups who strive to overthrow the government, and numerous extremist and terrorist groups such as Daesh. Since an official request from Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2015, the Russian Aerospace Forces have been supporting the Syrian government forces in their fight to rid the country of the terrorists.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала