Over 5,000 opposition patriots fighting in cooperation with govt forces - Russian general
MOSCOW. Dec 15 (Interfax) - The opposition forces fighting in Syria against terrorists from ISIL (a terror group banned in Russia) are helping the command unit of the Russian aviation group by providing it with the coordinates of militant positions, says Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, head of the Main Operations Department of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff.
"The success of the ground operation of the Syrian armed forces is facilitated by the efforts of the so-called anti-ISIL opposition. Currently, there are over 150 such groups operating in Syria," he said.
The most patriotically minded of them are already fighting in cooperation with the Syrian government troops. Today they number over 5,000 people, Rudskoy said.
"We have established and maintain regular contact with them. The opposition forces provide the command unit of the Russian aviation group with the coordinates of terrorist targets," Rudskoy said.
"I want to stress that we intend to continue the work aimed at combining the efforts of the government troops and other forces interested in liberating Syria from international terrorists," he said.
In the past 24 hours alone, 17 strikes have been carried against ISIL positions north of Raqqa to provide support for the Ganim group of the Syrian Free Army and the Democratic Forces armed group, who are advancing towards Raqqa, he said.
"According to objective-monitoring data, the Russian aviation group has destroyed over 150 militants and eleven pieces of equipment," said Rudskoy, adding that 18 strikes had also been carried out against terrorists in the interests of the Lions of the Desert and Kalamun groups near el-Karatien and Palmyra.