Regime forces advanced Thursday in western Syria in a "vast offensive" against armed opposition groups, as Nato voiced alarm at escalating Russian military activity in the war-torn country. Moscow has dramatically stepped up its nine-day-old air war against foes of President Bashar al-Assad, with heavy bombing by warplanes and cruise missile strikes from the Caspian Sea.
A Syrian military source told AFP on Thursday that the army, backed by Russian raids and allied militia including the powerful Lebanese group Hezbollah, had advanced in a key mountain range. "They have seized most of the hilly region of Jeb al-Ahmar" which overlooks the strategic Sahl al-Ghab plain to the east and Assad's coastal stronghold of Latakia to the west, the source said.
The plain has been the focus of a months-long offensive by a rebel alliance including al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, Al-Nusra Front. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, confirmed that regime forces had advanced in the area. Moscow says it is striking the Islamic State jihadist organisation and "other terrorists". But Washington has accused Russia of targeting groups other than IS or Al-Nusra in more than 90 percent of its raids.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said Thursday Russia would soon begin to suffer casualties. "This will have consequences for Russia itself which is rightly fearful of attacks ... in coming days, the Russians will begin to suffer from casualties," Carter said at a Nato defence ministers meeting in Brussels. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said there had been a "troubling escalation" in Moscow's air campaign. "We will assess the latest developments and their implications for the security of the alliance," he added. "This is particularly relevant in view of the recent violations of Nato's airspace by Russian aircraft," Stoltenberg said.
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