BEIRUT, October 4. /TASS/. Gunmen from the Jaish al-Fath coalition of extremist groups are pulling out their forces from Idlib and other towns in northwestern Syria, a Lebanese newspaper has reported.
The radicals started moving towards the Turkish border on Saturday after having experienced "the efficiency of the Russian aerospace forces’ strikes," the As-Safir Arabic-language daily reported.
The coalition is led by the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, which is sponsored by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. The group seized the Idlib province this spring.
The report said field commanders fear at any moment the attack of Syrian forces supported by Russian warplanes on the key town of Jisr ash-Shugur, on the Latakia-Aleppo highway.
After the intensive air raids, the gunmen stopped offensive on the Sahl el Ghab plain in the northwestern Hama province. Syria’s army and people’s militias could launch a counterattack in this area in the coming hours.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that the operation of Russia’s aerospace forces in Syria, conducted since September 30 at the request from Bashar Assad, is aimed at battling terrorism and preserving the country’s integrity.