Russia launches air campaign against Islamic State in Syrian desert

Russian forces intensified their airstrikes against IS sites in Syria’s Badia with the aim of supporting the ground forces that failed to eliminate the organization or curb its spread.
A Russian army helicopter, part of a patrol, flies over an oil field in the countryside of al-Qahtaniyah town in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province near the Turkish border, on Oct. 11, 2020.
A Russian army helicopter, part of a patrol, flies over an oil field in the countryside of al-Qahtaniyah town in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province near the Turkish border, on Oct. 11, 2020. - DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images
KhaledAlKhateb.jpg
Khaled al-Khateb
@khaleedalkhteb

ALEPPO, Syria — During the second week of March, Russian warplanes intensified airstrikes targeting the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria.

There are several goals behind the Russian airstrikes. Chief among them is securing the roads in the Badia region (the Syrian desert), limiting IS operations and military capabilities and curbing the spread of the organization in the Badia, which extends over Raqqa, Hama, Homs, Deir Ez-Zor and Aleppo provinces.

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