Russia adds airstrikes in Syria

DPA (TNS)

BEIRUT

Russia is stepping up its air campaign in Syria, participating Monday in strikes that killed at least 17 people in Islamic State-held territory in the east of the country.

Russia, a Syrian government ally, tripled its airstrikes recently, the Institute for the Study of War reported.

A rebel offensive in the northern Aleppo region - led, in part, by the Nusra Front, the Syrian wing of the al-Qaida terrorist network - is threatening government positions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “terrorists” would not be allowed to take new territory from the Syrian government, pledging to increase airstrikes.

The report by the U.S.-based war-study group noted that Russia already was attacking opposition positions in Aleppo and also widening its campaign into neighboring Idlib province, which is almost entirely held by rebels, including the Nusra Front and the hard-line Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham.

The expansion of fighting comes as a cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Russia has collapsed in some parts of the country is faltering in others. Political negotiations in Geneva between the warring factions have stalled.

At least 17 people were killed as Russian and Syrian government warplanes attacked a public market in Islamic State-held Deir al Zour in the east, the Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights reported.