The Islamic State jihadist group has claimed the killing of five Russian troops in fighting near the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. "The soldiers of the caliphate, by the grace of God, have killed five Russian soldiers and six members" of the Syrian army, IS said in a statement.
The group also claimed the killing of several members of the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group in the clashes near Palmyra. A website linked to IS, Aamaq, carried a similar claim, adding that one of the Russians killed was a military advisor. "The fierce battles around Palmyra city in the east of Homs province left five Russian soldiers dead on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as several others from the Hezbollah militia and Afghan Shiite militias," Aamaq claimed. "Four of the Russian soldiers were killed in Qasr al-Halabat west of Palmyra during an attempt to storm the area that IS forces foiled, while the advisor whose corpse was shown in a video distributed by the agency died (Thursday) in the Dawa area," it added.
Aamaq was referring to a video showing the bloodied corpse of a man in military gear that it claimed was the advisor. The footage also shows equipment presumably captured after the clashes, including a customised AK-74M rifle, a helmet and a compass. A packet of bandages was filmed with instructions written in Russian.