Russian troops, weapons, and vehicles have been sighted in battles in Syria supporting the Assad regime, The Telegraph reported Wednesday.
The video footage claimed to show troops and a Russian armoured vehicle fighting Syrian rebels alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s troops in Latakia. …
In further indications of Russian “mission creep” in Syria, a Twitter account linked to Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, published images of what appeared to be Russian planes and drones flying over Idlib.
And a Russian naval vessel was photographed heading south through the Bosphorus strait carrying large amounts of military equipment, according to social media and a shipping blog.
#Syria Nusra linked acc. posted pics of Russian made drone & jets flying over Western #Idlib. Huge if true. pic.twitter.com/1xPuUbD9an
— Green lemon (@green_lemonnn) September 2, 2015
“Russia’s goal is said to be purely counterterrorist in nature and conforms to a new period of bilateral cooperation between Moscow and Tehran in salvaging a common ally—Assad—while also amplifying the fight against ISIS,” Michael Weiss wrote in The Daily Beast earlier this week. “That war, as prosecuted by a U.S.-fronted coalition for a year now, has not been going so swimmingly.”
Iran has also been actively backing Assad, extending him a $1 billion line of credit in July and recruiting foreigners, especially Afghans, to fight in support of the regime.
[Photo: Ivan Sidorenkoo / YouTube ]