Moscow, Dec 7 (AFP) Russia's defence ministry today saidits mission to oust Islamic State jihadists from Syria hadbeen "accomplished" with the country "completely liberated"from the extremist group.
"The Russian armed forces' goal to defeat armed groups ofthe ISIL terrorist organisation in Syria has beenaccomplished," said senior military officer Sergei Rudskoi,using an alternative acronym for the group.
"There is not a single village or district in Syria underthe control of ISIL. The territory of Syria has beencompletely liberated from fighters of this terroristorganisation," he told reporters.
There has been an "unprecedented" involvement by Russia'sairforce in recent days, he said, with warplanes making 100sorties and staging up to 250 strikes daily.
At the same time, special forces were active on theground directing planes and "destroying the most odiousleaders of militant groups behind enemy lines," he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitorsthe conflict, said Thursday that IS still holds about eightpercent of Deir Ezzor province.
Rudskoi said "separate sabotage bands of ISIL" couldstill be operating but would be fought by Syrian governmenttroops, indicating that Russia's involvement would be scaleddown.
"With the liquidation of armed bands of the ISILterrorist group in Syria, the Russian contingent willconcentrate its main efforts on providing aid to the Syrianpeople in rebuilding peace" and ensuring ceasefire commitmentswere met, he said.
Russia began its bombing raids in September 2015 insupport of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's beleagueredforces.
Those strikes have helped Assad regain control over muchof war-ravaged Syria.
Last month, President Vladimir Putin said efforts to endthe war were entering a "new stage" as the focus shifts frommilitary intervention to political reform.
More than 340,000 people have been killed since theconflict broke out in March 2011 with protests against Assad'srule that sparked a brutal crackdown. (AFP)CPS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.