Russian sub fires cruise missiles in Syria

MOSCOW: A Russian submarine fired cruise missiles at terrorist targets in Syria’s Idlib province on Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said, saying it had targeted Islamist militants who had tried to trap a group of Russian military policemen earlier in the week. The strike, launched from the Mediterranean by Russia’s ‘Veliky Novgorod’ submarine, was part of a counter-offensive against a jihadi attack on government-held parts of northwest Syria near Hama on Tuesday.

The Russian Defence Ministry on Wednesday said 29 Russian military policemen had been surrounded by terrorists as a result of that attack and that Russia had been forced to break them out in a special operation backed by air power.

On Friday, it said in a statement it had fired Kalibr cruise missiles at the same militants from a distance of 300-km striking command centres, armoured vehicles and the bases of jihadis who had taken part in the original attack. 

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces achieved the first goal of a new offensive against the Islamic State group on just its second day on Friday, penetrating the northern town of Sharqat, AFP correspondents said. Some residents celebrated in the streets as government troops and paramilitaries entered the town centre and tore down the black flags of the jihadists who had ruled it with an iron fist for more than three years.