FILE IMAGE: RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY
Russian warplanes have destroyed three ISIS convoys fleeing Raqqa, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed in a statement on Thursday.
According to the MoD, the convoys were attempting to escape from Raqqah in the southern direction on Monday but this was prevented by the Russian Aerospace Forces.
As a result 80 ISIS terrorists were killed and 36 vehicles, 8 fuel trucks and 17 pick ups equipped with mortars and machine guns were destroyed.
“The Command of the Russian Air Force group in Syrian Arab Republic warned that any efforts of ISIS’ insurgents to leave Raqqa through the open corridor to Palmyra will be suppressed.
The first insurgents’ convoy which was heading from Raqqa to Palmyra Russian aviation eliminated on the 25th of May.
On the night of 29 30 May militants took another shot to advance to Palmyra. Three mechanized convoys full with insurgents in the darkness left Raqqa and headed to the South on several routes.
Our intelligence revealed this movement in due time. The Russian Aerospace Forces stroke detected targets,” the statement reads.
The Russian ministary added that the US-led coalition and US-backed forces are maintaining an open corridor for terrorists south of the city of Raqqa.
“The city is cut off from the north. In the meantime, SDF stopped its advance and it resulted in leaving breaches in defense lines south off Raqqa. Using that, terrorists are freely crossing Euphrates and trying to redeploy their units to the Southern Syria.
The Command of the Russian Air Force group in Syrian Arab Republic will continue to take all necessary measured in order to prevent any ISIS’ forces to leave Raqqa and move to Homs and Hama provinces.“
