Alwaght- The Syrian opposition forces are cooperating with the Russian army to help strike ISIS terrorist group target, Russia's Ministry of Defense says.
"Contact has been established and is constantly maintained. Opposition groups are providing the command of the Russian Air Force coordinates to strike terrorist targets," RT cited Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy as saying on Tuesday .
The Syrian "moderate" opposition also contributes to the advance of Syrian government forces in their fight against ISIS, the defense ministry official said .
There are over 150 such opposition groups, Rudskoy said, adding that "the most patriotic of them" are already fighting ISIS terrorists alongside the Syrian army. "Today they count up to over 5,000 people," he told reporters .
Over the past 24 hours the Russian Air Force has conducted 17 airstrikes at ISIS targets to support the offensive towards the terrorists' de-facto capital of Raqqa by a group that's part of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and by the Syrian Democratic Forces rebel group .
The aim of the Russian military is to further work on "uniting the efforts of government forces and other groups interested in liberating Syria of international terrorists," the official said .
Russia is supporting the FSA while this armed group is considered as one of the opposition groups to the Syrian government and it has received supports from the United States, the Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
During the past two years the FSA has lost much of its power, being overshadowed by the Salafi-takfiri terrorist groups like ISIS, al-Nusra Front and the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda terror group. It is said that because the FSA’s members are originally Syrians and do not hold sectarian motives they are seen more moderate, compared to other armed groups in the country such as ISIS terrorists and al-Nusra Front. Russia did not recognize FSA as a terrorist group since it military intervention in Syria, making efforts to bring the group closer to the Syrian government.
