BEIRUT — Russia has conducted its first airstrikes in Syria after Moscow received formal parliamentary approval to conduct military operations in the war-torn country.
Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the country's air force had "begun airstrikes on the Islamic State positions in Syria."
The statement came after pro-rebel All4Syria outlet reported in the morning that Russian jets had conducted raids early Wednesday in the village of Zafarana north of Homs as well as near the town of Lataminah northwest of Hama, neither of which are ISIS strongholds.
A number of other activist websites also ran stories on the strikes, which allegedly targeted not only Lataminah and Zafarana, but also a number of other rebel-held towns north of Homs.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 27 people, including five women and six children, had been killed in airstrikes on areas in the Homs towns of Rastan, Talbisa and Zafarana, while videos circulated purporting to show the aftermaths of the raids.
After the rebel reports emerged, a senior US official told CNN that "Russia has conducted its first airstrike in Syria, near the city of Homs."
The Russian government on Wednesday received approval from the upper house of the parliament to provide air support for the "Syrian government forces in their fight against ISIS," while President Vladimir Putin's chief-of-staff announced that Syria had formally requested Moscow for military support.
Hours later, Fox News cited a senior US official as saying that "Russian diplomats sent an official demarche ordering US planes out of Syria."
"Russian fighter jets [are] now flying over Syrian territory," the anonymous official added.
Activists and rebels outside Homs and Hama reported that the Wednesday morning strikes outside Hama and Homs were far different from previous regime raids, with the jets flying at high altitudes while their munitions were more powerful.
"Military observatories in the northern Homs countryside confirmed that the jets that hit the region were new Russia ones," All4Syria's correspondent said, adding that the massive blasts caused by the strikes were unprecedentedly large.
A commander in the Homs Liberation Movement — a rebel organization formed in 2014 that had previous ties to the Free Syrian Army — told the outlet that "this is the first time that the region has witnessed strikes of this kind."
He explained that the new Russian jets conducted their bombing runs on Zafarana from a "very high altitude" without diving down on their targets as was the practice for Syrian regime strikes in the past, adding that "very advanced munitions" were deployed in Wednesday's attack.
Meanwhile in northern Hama, the commander of the Al-Izza Gathering told All4Syria that advanced jets had targeted the FSA-linked group's headquarters in Lataminah.
Major Jamil Saleh told All4Syria that the Russian jets flew at high altitudes—similar to the attack north of Homs— adding that there were no civilian casualties in Lataminah since the town was empty of most of its inhabitants.
Here's video of the purported Russian airstrike on Lataminah:
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