Russian general killed by ISIS

SOURCED

Asapov was one of the senior Russian military advisers working on the ground in Syria

Lieutenant-General Asapov died at a command outpost manned by Syrian troops while assisting commanders in the liberation of the city of Deir al-Zor

RUSSIA'S Defence Ministry revealed that one of its top generals has been killed by mortar shelling in Syria.

The fatal attack on a Syrian military outpost was carried out by ISIS fighters near the war-torn city of Deir al-Zor.

REUTERS

A Russian military vehicle is seen on the road heading to Deir al-Zor on Friday

The ministry said Lieutenant-General Valeryi Asapov died at a command station manned by Syrian troops, assisting commanders in the liberation of the city.

Asapov has been described as one of the senior Russian military advisers working on the ground in Syria.

"As a result of a sudden mortar shelling by IS militants, Lieutenant-General Valery Asapov was fatally wounded by an exploding shell,” the MoD said.

Others are believed to have been killed in the attack.

In recognition of his services, Lieutenant-General Asapov is to be presented with a posthumous state decoration.

Earlier, airstrikes targeted rural Aleppo in northern Syria today for the first time in months since a ceasefire took hold in the province, killing one, activists and a war monitoring group said.

Also Sunday, the Central Military Media, affiliated with the Syrian government, reported that Iranian drones successfully struck ISIS vehicles  along the Syria-Iraq border in the south.

The report didn't say when the strike occurred, but showed purported footage of it.

REUTERS

A man holds bread as he walks along a damaged street filled with debris in Deir al-Zor

Previously, the US-led coalition had downed Iranian drones in the area, considering them hostile because they dropped ammunition near a base where US troops operated alongside allied Syrian opposition fighters.

Elsewhere, warplanes continued to pound Syria's rural Idlib and Hama, where insurgents led by an al-Qaeda-linked group began an offensive against government troops in the area.

The Syrian Civil Defense said one person was killed in Aleppo bombing, which it said targeted a cow farm.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 40 insurgents were killed in airstrikes Saturday on a village in northern Idlib.

(The Sun, London)