Syrian Army initiates major offensive with Russian help

Backed by Lebanon's Hezbollah and Russian air strikes, the Syrian army has recently announced a "vast offensive" against rebels, as NATO warns about Moscow's rising military activity in the country. 

span style="line-height: 1.22;">LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - With the launch of the air war in Syria, Russia has significantly upped the ante. Cruise missile strikes are coming from the Caspian Sea, and heavy bombing by war planes are thrown against terrorist targets in Syria.  

A U.S. official has stated four Russian missiles launched at Syria from a warship crashed in Iran on Wednesday, last week, but this was denied by Moscow. A Syrian military source claims regime troops have moved forward in a key mountain range. 

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"They have seized most of the hilly region of Jeb al-Ahmar," which overlooks Assad's coastal stronghold of Latakia to the west, and the strategic Sahl al-Ghab plain to the east, according to AFP's Syrian source. The attention of a months-long offensive by a rebel alliance including, Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, Al-Nusra Front is the plain.

British-based monitoring group The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed regime troops have advanced in the location, and are attacking the Islamic State jihadists and other terrorists, according to Moscow. 

Russia has been accused of targeting groups other than ISIS or Al-Nusra in more than 90 percent of its raids, according to Washington. The defense ministry in Moscow explained that Russia's air force hit 27 "terrorist" targets in northern and central Syria. 

The eight Islamic State strongholds near populated areas in Homs province that were destroyed, and the 11 training camps that were hit, are linked to the group in Raqa and Hama provinces.

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According to an anonymous U.S. official, four of the missiles Russia launched on Syria from warships, crashed into Iran. Defense Ministry spokesman, General Igor Konashenkov stated that any professional knows that during operations, they always fix the target before and after impact. "All our cruise missiles hit their target."  

During a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter predicted  that Russia would soon encounter casualties of its own.

"We will assess the latest developments and their implications for the security of the alliance," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated.  "This is particularly relevant in view of recent violations of NATO's airspace by Russian aircraft."

Tensions continue to escalate between Russia and NATO member Turkey after Russian aircraft intruded Turkish airspace twice. Since the Syrian conflict broke out in 2011, the Russian air war has provided cover for Assad's ground troops who lost swathes of north, east, and south of the country to rebel groups and jihadists. 

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According to a military source in the Sahl al-Ghab plain, Russian air strikes targeted at least three villages in the Latakia province on Thursday morning. 

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