Russia fires missiles into Syria; Assad launches attack
Coordinated land, air and sea assault seeks to reverse rebel gains.
Russia and Syria unleashed a coordinated assault by land, air and sea on Wednesday, seeking to reverse recent gains by rebel groups that were beginning to encroach on President Bashar Assad’s last bastion of power.
Moscow said it had fired 26 cruise missiles on Syrian targets from naval vessels in the Caspian Sea, 900 miles away, though it was not immediately clear whether they hit targets in the area of the ground offensive.
The ground assault, and airstrikes, seemed to focus on an area of northern Hama province and southern Idlib province, around three villages that insurgents consider the first line of defense of the strategic Jebel al-Zawiya area.
The bombardment appeared to be severe in some places. One video showed white smoke rising above a village’s minarets, while another appeared to show at least a dozen explosions — the person filming described the weapons as rockets — in less than five minutes.
At certain points in Wednes-
day’s fighting, rebels fired advanced TOW anti-tank missiles, supplied covertly by the CIA, at Syria’s Russian-made tanks, leaving the impression of a proxy war between Russia and the United States. Videos posted by rebel groups, including the U.S.-backed Division 17 and Suqour alGhab, showed the guided missiles sailing toward approaching tanks and destroying them.
Although in its early stages, the coordinated attack has revealed the outline of a new alliance among Syria, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Iran and Russia, said an official with that alliance, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss military strategy.
The official said the Russian intervention — the result of plans by the four allies during at least the past four to six months — had rejuvenated the Assad forces and put to rest any doubts about Russia’s commitment to Assad. Despite Western calls for his departure, the Syrian leader remains in power more than four years into a war that has killed a quarter of a million people and displaced half the country’s population.
“No more questions,” the official said in tones of confidence and optimism. “Not at any level.”
The offensive aims to retake areas gained in the spring by an insurgent coalition, the Army of Conquest, that threated the government-held coastal province of Latakia, the homeland of Assad and fellow members of his Alawite sect. It was the first time since those spring setbacks that the government’s forces had moved “from defense to offense,” the official said.
While Russian officials said the sea-launched missiles targeted the Islamic State, also called ISIS or ISIL, Western officials said the great majority of the attacks were directed against rebel groups fighting Assad. There were no reports of large explosions in Islamic State-held parts of Syria farther east, making it less likely that the cruise missiles went there.
The news of the missile attack came via a televised meeting between Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and President Vladimir Putin.
“That we fired from the territory of the Caspian Sea, at a range greater than 1,500 kilometers, and hit targets precisely, this shows high qualifications,” Putin said, referring to naval crew members.
Shoigu said no civilians had been injured in the attack.
The ground operation will eventually include new contingents of fighters from Hezbollah, a Shiite militia, as well as the current configuration of Syrian forces backed by Russians in the air, according to the official with the alliance. In addition, Iranian military advisers have long been active on the ground in Syria and would most likely be involved in such a crucial operation.
The Army of Conquest is an Islamist faction that includes the Nusra Front, al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, as well as more secular groups that often fight alongside it, including some that have received U.S. aid. Russia has so far refused to make a distinction between the Army of Conquest and the Islamic State, labeling both groups as terrorist.
On Wednesday, though, they helped blunt the start of the new ground offensive. “The regime stopped progressing, but the mortars are still hitting us,” said Abu Imad, a fighter with the Islamist group Jund al-Aqsa, who, giving only a nom de guerre for safety, said a united response by several rebel factions had helped repel the attack.
Russian diplomats, a senior Foreign Ministry official said, have asked the United States to identify armed groups other than units of the Syrian army that are fighting the Islamic State and that should be avoided in airstrikes, but the official said the Russians had not yet received an answer.