New clips from outside Palmyra in Syria have shown a large presence of Russian ground troops as well as helicopters to oust the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group after they took control of it for the second time.
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Russia on Friday pummelled the outskirts of the city and hit many ISIS targets in Homs, Syria. They were trying to free the territory near the T-4 military airport that has fallen under ISIS control.
In the video, Russian soldiers are gathered on the ground while attack helicopters fire missiles on terrorist targets. The attack came even as Russia and Turkey brokered nationwide ceasefire in Syria came into force at midnight. The United Nations also backed the two countries for not ceasing its efforts against ISIS.
The Turkey operation, launched four months ago to drive ISIS away from near its border, is called Euphrates Shield.
The two countries have coordinated its attacks against ISIS militants near al-Bab, also controlled by the jihadists, despite tensions between them. Turkish officials said that their warplanes and artillery had killed 22 of the group's militants during separate attacks. They added that Russian aircraft destroyed ISIS targets in Dayr Kak.
"Don't just keep repeating outdated cliches. Let us work very seriously on this and ensure that in 2017 we achieve a political settlement of the Syria crisis," said Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, about the ceasefire between the two nations.
While Russia supports Syrian government Turkey supports the rebellion against it, which is mostly defeated now. The Syrian government led by Bashar Al-Assad is set to meet the opposition's representatives in Kazakhstan's capital Astana in late January, which might be the first time they meet face to face. Other countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan might also be involved.
The December 31 ceasefire resolution called for the "rapid, safe and unhindered" delivery of humanitarian aid throughout Syria.
