MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Russian airstrikes in Syria’s Idlib province terminated an operation by Jabhat al-Nusra (terror group, outlawed in Russia) in eastern Hama, in addition the participating terrorist forces were wiped out, Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

"Throughout the week, all strikes by Russian aircraft in the Idlib province have been zoning in on the equipment, reserves and groups of Jabhat al-Nusra militants who tried to carry out surprise attacks to set free terrorists from the Akerbat pocket in eastern Hama," Konashenkov said.

"Thanks to the efforts by Russian aviation in Syria, this al-Nusra operation was disrupted and the participating terrorist forces were destroyed," he stressed.

The Russian Defense Ministry has dismissed rumors that Russian and Syrian air strikes in the Idlib province have claimed the lives of 150 civilians

"The Syria Civil Defense the London-based news agency Reuters quotes in its reports of alleged civilian casualties are the very same White Helmets. The UK-based news agency’s attempts to present these fraudsters in a new disguise as an impartial source of information is a gimmick that can deceive only amateurs. Russia’s Aerospace Force aircraft do not attack residential areas in any localities in order to avoid civilian casualties," Konashenkov emphasized.

Earlier, Reuters claimed more than 150 civilians were reportedly killed in Syria’s Idlib province over the past week as a result of airstrikes by Russian and Syrian forces.

He pointed out that all of the targets selected for attack had been identified by drones and mandatorily reaffirmed by other sources as terrorists’ bases, armored vehicles and ammunition warehouses.

"Throughout the whole week, all Russian air strikes in Idlib provide were focused on the materiel, reserves and manpower of militants from Jabhat al-Nusra (outlawed in Russia), who tried to launch a surprise attack to let terrorist groups get out of the encirclement near Akerbat, in the east of Hama province. Russian planes in Syria disrupted that operation by Jabhat al-Nusra and all terrorist forces involved in it were wiped out," Konashenkov said.