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DAMASCUS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Russian war jets struck positions of the Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria's northern province of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS terror group, a monitor group reported Saturday.
The Russian warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes on areas in northern and western parts of al-Raqqa, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, spelling no details on losses or causalities.
Russian airstrikes also targeted rebels' positions in the Turkman Mountains in the northern countryside of the coastal city of Latakia, said the Observatory, adding that the Latakia strikes left injuries.
Meanwhile, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said the Russian airstrikes targeted a command center of the IS in al-Raqqa.
It added that the Syrian army is poised to launch a wide-scale offensive under the Russian air support against the jihadi groups in the southern part of Hama province in central Syria.
Citing a military source, the TV said the main mission of Syrian army there is to secure the road connecting Homs province to Hama, a move important to secure the link between Syrian capital Damascus through the central provinces of Hama and Homs all the way towards the Syrian coast.
Russian warplanes started Wednesday airstrikes against the rebel positions in several areas, marking the first Russian military involvement in the war on the terrorist groups in Syria.
Damascus has confirmed it had asked Russia for military aid, saying the Russian air force aid to Syria has come upon the request of President Bashar al-Assad, according to the state news agency SANA.
A couple of weeks ago, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said in an interview that his government could ask for a Russian military aid if necessary. A day later, Russian officials said Moscow is ready to provide aid to Syria.
The Russian leadership has recently amplified its military aid to the Syrian military forces. Russian officials have recently stressed that Moscow will continue providing military aid, including specialists, to Damascus.
Russian officials said the increasing military supplies aim at combating terrorism in accordance with international law.
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