More than 8,000 terrorists wiped out in Syria over three months

MOSCOW - 25 August 2017: Commander of the Russian grouping of forces in Syria Colonel General Sergey Surovikin said on Friday that over 8,000 terrorists have been destroyed in Syria over the past three months, TASS news agency reported.

"The enemy has lost a total of over 8,000 gunmen and 1,500 pieces of armament, military and other hardware," the general said at the Army-2017 international military and technical forum during a roundtable discussion on the Syrian experience.

Russian pilots destroyed 415 terrorist facilities in Syria over the past three days and carried out more than 160 sorties, according to Surovikin.

"To support the offensive by units of Syria’s Armed Forces the Russian aviation every day carries out some 60 sorties…Only over the past three days, Russian pilots have made 163 sorties, destroying 415 targets," Surovikin told the forum.

The operation to destroy terrorists in Syria will continue until they are fully defeated, according to Surovikin.

"The operation to destroy militants of the Islamic State [Daesh] and Jabhat al-Nusra (both terror groups outlawed in Russia) in Syria will continue until they are fully defeated," Surovikin said.

The commander stressed that Syria’s government forces backed by Russia’s Aerospace Forces and Russian military advisers will make every effort to bring peace to Syria while refraining from "unnecessary violence and preserving people’s lives."