TEHRAN (Basirat)- A source within Russia's Ministry of Defense told Gazeta.ru that the Navy's aircraft carrier group is ready to launch a strike targeting Daesh terrorists in the province of Aleppo in the next 24 hours. The attack, which will likely engage Kalibr cruise missiles, will target militants outside of Aleppo, and not the residential areas.
A source within Russia's Ministry of Defense told Gazeta.ru that the Navy's aircraft carrier group is ready to launch a strike targeting Daesh terrorists in the province of Aleppo in the next 24 hours. The attack, which will likely engage Kalibr cruise missiles, will target militants outside of Aleppo, and not the residential areas.The group, which includes Russia's 'Admiral Kuznetsov' aircraft
carrier, 'Pyotr Veliky' nuclear power guided missile cruiser and two
destroyers, has completed its transfer to the Mediterranean Sea and is
getting ready to strike, the MoD source said.
"The group's main goal is to carry out missile strikes on
terrorists outside of Aleppo that are attempting to get into the city",
the source added.
He also said that Kalibr cruise missiles will be used in the strikes,
but did not specify from which ships the missiles will be launched.
No Russian surface ship that is currently in the Med is capable of
firing the Kalibr-NK missiles, but submarine-launched Kalibr-PL could be
used in the strike. The surface-launched type of Kalibr missile could
also be launched from the Caspian Sea.
Right now final details of the strike are being worked out, the
source told Gazeta.ru, including zeroing in on the terrorists'
locations, finding out the details of their transport routes, base camps
and storage and training facilities.
"The strikes will avoid the city of Aleppo to prevent civilian
casualties, because terrorists continue to use city residents as human
shields."
Russian and Syrian fighter jets have ceased all flights in a
ten-kilometer radius around Aleppo on October 18, after which Daesh
terrorists began advancing on Aleppo.
On October 28th, a group of militants attempted to breach the
eastern part of the city, using tanks and infantry fighting vehicles for
support.
Syria’s Aleppo has been the scene of fierce battles between Syria’s army
and militants holding the city's eastern districts. Fighting has
escalated in recent days since militants announced an offensive and
fired missiles on government-held districts of western Aleppo.
Russia introduced an earlier humanitarian pause in October, to ensure
the safe evacuation of civilians and unarmed militants from eastern
Aleppo through designated corridors. That pause collapsed when Jabhat
Fatah al Sham (also known as Nusra Front, or Jabhat al-Nusra) militants
prevented civilians from fleeing Aleppo and attacked them, prompting an
offensive by government forces.