Assad Using New Russian Weapons: Report

The Syrian military is employing new Russian air and ground weapons against rebel groups battling President Bashar al-Assad’s government, according to an unnamed Syrian military source.

Speaking to Reuters, the military official described the new weapons as “highly effective and very accurate,” adding that “they are all types of weapons, be it air or ground.”

The source’s comments come at a time when Western countries have expressed concern about Russia’s ongoing military buildup in Syria.

Parties Urge Syrian Kurds Not to Flee

Kurdish political parties in Syria are calling on their constituents not to flee the country at a time when Europe has been rocked by a refugee crisis.

Many Syrian Kurds have fled in the hope of arriving in Turkey and continuing on to Europe, reports Al Jazeera English. An estimated 400,000 people took flight from Kobani, a Kurdish-majority area, when Kurdish armed groups clashed with ISIS back in October 2014.

Kurdish civilians have also fled Hassakeh, a province in the northeast, and Efrin, a Kurdish area near Aleppo, over the last few years. Yet Kurdish political parties worry that the mass exodus could put them in a bind if demographic balances shift heavily.

Syrian Army Bombs ISIS Targets


The Syrian military has launched airstrikes on ISIS-held parts of the country for a second consecutive day, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian jets on Friday executed more than 25 airstrikes on Palmyra, the city captured by ISIS back in May, reports Reuters. Since taking over the city, ISIS has destroyed many local archaeological sites and placed local residents under its rule.

Just a day earlier, the Syrian military launched intense airstrikes on Raqqa, the ISIS stronghold in northern Syria.

Photo: Associated Press

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