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Russia and Turkey carry out first joint air strikes in operation outside Aleppo

Russian Defence Ministry confirms it has joined the Turkish military operation targeting al-Bab in move suggesting ever-closer ties between Moscow and Ankara

Wednesday 18 January 2017 15:39 GMT

A Russian Foreign Ministry video grab made on March 15, 2016, shows Russian Su-34 bombers and a Tupolev Tu-154 transport plane (R) flying above an unknown location in Syria (AFP/Getty Images)

Russian and Turkish war planes have joined forces to combat Isis in northern Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed.

The country’s air forces targeted the militants’ stronghold of al-Bab, around 25 miles (40 kilometres) northeast of Aleppo, on Wednesday, Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi said in a televised statement. Nine Russian jets and eight Turkish war planes were involved in the offensive.

“The assessment of the initial results... showed the strikes were highly effective,” he said.

The operation, conducted in agreement with the Syrian government, shows unprecedented cooperation between Ankara and Moscow.

Russia and Turkey are responsible for brokering a new round of peace talks between the Syrian opposition and the regime, due to begin in the Kazakh capital of Astana on January 23.

Turkey, which backs Syria’s Sunni rebels, has recently softened its stance on the political fate of Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, prioritising its need to curb both Kurdish and Isis expansion in the border region.

Russian firepower utilised on the behalf of the Syrian government have been widely credited with turning the tide of the war in Mr Assad’s favour.

Following the fall of rebel-held Aleppo last month, Russia said that the country was de-escalating its military presence in the country.

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

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1/30In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian family arrives at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian woman, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, reacts as she stands with her children in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past resident fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood , after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past residents fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian pro-regime fighter speaks with a child, as residents flee violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood. Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops

AFP/Getty Images

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Smoke rises as seen from a governement-held area of Aleppo, Syria

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian soldiers targeting rebels-held areas in the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria. According to media reports, the army is now holding on 99 percent of Aleppoís eastern neighborhoods

EPA

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's eastern al-Salihin neighbourhood after troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian soldiers rest following the battle at al-Sheik Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria

EPA

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian pro-government fighter walking past closed shops in the Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo's Old City. Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo's Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria's war

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

The crucial battle for Aleppo entered its 'final phase' after Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The retreat leaves opposition fighters confined to just a handful of neighbourhoods in southeast Aleppo, the largest of them Sukkari and Mashhad

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian civilans arrive at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods. Syria's government has retaken at least 85 percent of east Aleppo, which fell to rebels in 2012, since beginning its operation

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian civilians flee the Sukkari neighbourhood towards safer rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The fall of Aleppo would be the worst rebel defeat since Syria's conflict began in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country's five major cities

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian refugee Aliya inside the tent where she lives with her husband and ten children in a camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian refugee women and children outside the entrance to their tents in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA Wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA Wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee woman outside the entrance to the tent where her family live, in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A vehicle drives past a mosque at night in Idlib, Syria. Picture taken with a long exposure

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

The night sky is seen through damaged windows in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, Syria

Reuters

However, Russian jets are still assisting a Syrian army offensive to take back the ancient city of Palmyra and fight off a renewed Isis assault on the besieged town of Deir al-Zor.

Significant numbers of Isis fighters fleeing the US-led coalition offensive against Mosul in neighboring Iraq were streaming into Syria “almost unobstructed,” Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi added.

The Syrian government, Turkey and Russia, as well as a US-led bombing campaign, are all engaged in driving Isis back to its de facto capital of Raqqa.

The Western coalition bombing is an encroachment on Syria’s sovereignty, Mr Assad’s government says.

Until this week, Turkey was also bombing both Kurdish and Isis forces without the permission of the Syrian authorities.

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