Russian airstrikes kill 56 Turkish-backed rebels in SyriaOctober 26, 2020 - 17:20 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - At least 56 rebel fighters were killed and 100 more injured in airstrikes by Russian warplanes on a military training camp in northwestern Syria on Monday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The camp is located in Idlib province, close to the Turkish border and belonged to Faylaq al-Sham, an alliance of Sunni Islamist rebels aligned with Turkey, the war monitor said, according to Deutsche Welle. Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, brokered a fragile truce alongside Turkey in March aimed at curbing the Damascus-led military offensive against the country's last remaining rebel stronghold in Idlib. The fighting has displaced nearly a million people. The March truce has largely held, apart from intermittent airstrikes and bombardment in the area. A U.S. drone strike on Thursday killed five civilians and 17 jihadi fighters according to the Observatory. Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air power, have driven rebels in a pocket of territory near the border with Turkey. Ankara sent thousands of Turkish troops into the region this year in an effort to halt the Syrian military and stem the flow of refugees into Turkey. Syria has seen more than nine years of conflict between government and rebel fighters since the 2011 protests against President Bashar Assad. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |