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Conflict in Syria

Terrorists in Syria were awash in arms and cash — Russian senator

Thanks to the Russian Aerospace Force, the terrorists’ offensive was halted, Viktor Bondarev said

© REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/. Terrorist groupings fighting with the Syrian army were well-trained and were getting ‘huge funds,’ Russia’s Aerospace Force ex-commander and Chairman of the Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Viktor Bondarev told TASS on Wednesday.

"Only God knows how many terrorists are there in that region. According to the most modest estimates, there are over 100,000 of them there and all of them are well-trained. A militant armed with an assault rifle or a grenade launcher has to be taught to fight a regular army and if he did this successfully, this means that he got considerable funds, armaments and munitions," Bondarev said.

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Thanks to the Russian Aerospace Force, the terrorists’ offensive was halted, after which Russian military pilots reversed the situation and then prepared a bridgehead for launching an offensive on all the territories, cities, villages and provinces seized by the militants, he said.

"The Syrian army was actually left alone and fought on its own. Honestly speaking, if we face the truth, no one, except the Aerospace Force, except Russia providing Syria huge support, is actually fighting against terrorists there. It is true, though, that there is also the Syrian army there," the ex-commander said.

The Russian Aerospace Force has been providing support to the Syrian government troops in the war on terrorists in Syria since September 30, 2015. According to data as of September 22, 2017, Russian aircraft have made over 30,000 sorties, delivered 92,000 strikes and eliminated about 58,000 terrorists since the start of the anti-terror operation in Syria.

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