Russia carries out 10 airstrikes in Syria’s Raqqa and Homs

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Russian warplanes carried out at least ten airstrikes purportedly targeting ISIS militants in the countryside of Raqqa and Homs in Syria on Tuesday morning, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported.

The war monitor said that there was no information about any casualties caused by the strikes. It pointed out that Russian warplanes have carried out at least 65 raids on targets in the Syrian Desert (known as the Badia) since the beginning of April.

“It is noteworthy that last March, Russian warplanes launched about 275 raids only on the Badia, in light of the decline in its role and activity on Syrian territory as a result of its war on Ukraine,” SOHR noted.

The Badia encompasses large parts of Homs province, northeastern Hama province, western Deir al-Zor province, and southern Raqqa province. Since losing all the territory that once made up its self-styled caliphate in March 2019, mainly at the hands of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-led coalition, some ISIS militants found a safe haven in this vast, sparsely-populated area.

Syrian government forces and Iran-backed militias control most of the Badia and have been targeted by ISIS militants there since 2019.