Russian air strikes have killed at least 30 terrorists in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, the defense ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The strikes, which began on Tuesday, were part of a major operation against Takfiri insurgents in Idlib and Homs which saw the first missions carried out by Russian warplanes taking off from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier that arrived off Syria last week.

In the statement, ministry spokesman Igor Konachenkov said those killed were militants with the so-called “Fateh al-Sham” Front.

“According to information from different intelligence sources, at least 30 terrorists were killed,” he said, indicating that one of them was a Takfiri leader charged with “preparing and carrying out a new offensive in Aleppo”.

Idlib province is mostly controlled by an alliance of Takfiri insurgents known as the “Army of Conquest”, which groups terrorists of several Takfiri factions including the “Fateh al-Sham Front”, formerly Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate.

Russia has been carrying out air strikes on Syria since September 2015 under the request of the Damascus in a bid to get rid of Takfiri terrorists fighting the Syrian government.

Source: AFP