RNA - "Yesterday, the Russian Aerospace Forces conducted airstrikes to the North of Palmyra where a group of Daesh [ISIL] terrorists were preparing offensive on the city," Lt. Gen. Viktor Poznikhir, first deputy chief of the General Staff's Main Operational Department, said at a news briefing in the Defense Ministry.
According to Russian general, some 250 terrorists were killed and about 15 vehicles armed with large-caliber machine guns were destroyed in the airstrikes.
Syria has been mired in bloody war since March 2011, with government forces loyal to Damascus government fighting numerous terrorist groups, while Russia has been conducting a counterterrorist campaign in Syria since September 2015, at President Bashar al-Assad's request.
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