Russia fired a salvo of cruise missiles from the Mediterranean on Thursday and said they struck Islamic State targets in eastern Syria. Activists there said at least 20 civilians were killed in what they described a "fanatical" bombardment — blaming some of it on Russia and some on the United States.
It was not clear whether there was a connection between the Russian military strikes and the activists' accounts, reflecting the challenge of verifying the conflicting claims in the hostile environment of Syria's civil war, now in its seventh year.
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Russia fired a salvo of cruise missiles from the Mediterranean on Thursday and said they struck Islamic State targets in eastern Syria. Activists there said at least 20 civilians were killed in what they described a "fanatical" bombardment — blaming some of it on Russia and some on the United States.
The seven Kalibr cruise missiles, launched from the submarines Veliky Novgorod and Kolpino, hit IS installations in Deir el-Zour province, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The province is where forces backed separately by Washington and Moscow are racing to seize territory in the jihadist group's shrinking Euphrates River valley domain.
It has been impossible to verify the claims independently. Russia and the Syrian government only allows journalists into the country on carefully orchestrated media tours meant to showcase their might and legitimacy in the conflict; the U.S. does not accept embedded journalists at all.
Aboard Russia's frigate Admiral Essen, journalists watched as the two Kilo-class submarines surfaced to launch the missiles, whose contrails gashed the clear blue sky.
The militants in Deir el-Zour city are surrounded by Syrian troops on three sides, with their backs to the Euphrates River. Government forces control more than 60 percent of the city, which is north of the Euphrates.
Bassem Aziz, a spokesman for the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said his troops took control of an industrial area east of the river, a few miles from the government troops.
Overnight, a convoy of Islamic State militants and their relatives being evacuated crossed into Deir el-Zour from a desert area in central Syria, ending a standoff with the coalition that briefly overshadowed the battle for the province.
A truce has been in effect in the area since August. Although rebels report occasional shelling, there has been a drop in violence since the agreement was brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey in May.
This photo provided by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, shows Lebanese Hezbollah fighter, Ahmed Maatouk, center, in his hometown of Kfar Sir, following his release from captivity in Syria by Islamic State militants a day earlier, in south Lebanon, Thursday, Sept 14, 2017. (Syrian Central Military Media, via AP)
The seven Kalibr cruise missiles, launched from the submarines Veliky Novgorod and Kolpino, hit IS installations in Deir el-Zour province, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The province is where forces backed separately by Washington and Moscow are racing to seize territory in the jihadist group's shrinking Euphrates River valley domain.
But Turkey-based activist Omar Abou Layla said their local contacts reported "fanatical" levels of bombardment on three IS-held towns and villages along the valley — far more than could be accounted for by seven missiles — including an attack on the national hospital in the IS stronghold of al-Mayadeen, where six civilians were reported killed. Abou Layla put the toll at 20 killed across the province. He added that the provincial capital, also called Deir el-Zour, suffered heavy airstrikes as well.
Russian-backed pro-government forces have been on the offensive to take back the city after breaking an IS siege there last week. It was the first time reinforcements were able to reach the city in nearly three years.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 39 people were killed and over 100 wounded in strikes in the river valley, including some against hospitals and ferry crossings. The monitoring group said the U.S.-led international coalition, which is supporting nongovernment forces, was behind some of the strikes.
Russian military policeman guards the passage at the check-point of the de-escalation zone near Homs, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. Hundreds of people, mostly women and elderly men, living on the both sides which recently was a frontline between Syrian government forces and the Free Syrian Army flocked to a Russian military police check-point on Wednesday to get Russian food aid. (AP Photo)
It has been impossible to verify the claims independently. Russia and the Syrian government only allows journalists into the country on carefully orchestrated media tours meant to showcase their might and legitimacy in the conflict; the U.S. does not accept embedded journalists at all.
With pro-government forces already inside the city of Deir el-Zour, the chief U.S. partners in Syria — the Syrian Democratic Forces — launched their own campaign to take what they can in the valley.
All sides say they are fighting terrorists in the energy-rich region that borders Iraq.
Activists said the campaigns are killing scores of civilians. The Observatory said it has documented 106 civilian deaths in airstrikes since Sunday; Abou Layla says his organization, Deir Ezzor 24, has recorded 90 fatalities in the same period.
"We believe they are trying to finish the Deir el-Zour battle as quickly as possible," Abou Layla said of Russia, citing pressure to capture the Euphrates River valley before the U.S. partners establish a foothold.
Trainees of bomb disposal unit practice a bomb search near Homs, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. The Russian military in February opened a school in Aleppo to train Syrian sappers which was relocated to the outskirts of Homs several months later. (AP Photo)
Aboard Russia's frigate Admiral Essen, journalists watched as the two Kilo-class submarines surfaced to launch the missiles, whose contrails gashed the clear blue sky.
The missiles hit southeast of Deir el-Zour, destroying a command center, a communications hub and an ammunition depot, killing an unspecified number of IS fighters, said ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov.
Russia has provided military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad since 2015.
Long-range Kalibr cruise missile is launched by a Russian Navy submarine in the Mediterranean on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. Russia's military says it fired seven cruise missiles at Islamic State targets in the eastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zour. (AP Photo/Nataliya Vasilyeva)
The militants in Deir el-Zour city are surrounded by Syrian troops on three sides, with their backs to the Euphrates River. Government forces control more than 60 percent of the city, which is north of the Euphrates.
U.S.-backed Syrian forces, meanwhile, are advancing in the surrounding province from the east and north, on the other side of the river.
A Russian military policeman guards the area from the top of an armoured car near Homs, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. Hundreds of people, mostly women and elderly men, living on the both sides which recently was a frontline between Syrian government forces and the Free Syrian Army flocked to a Russian military police check-point on Wednesday to get Russian food aid. (AP Photo)
Bassem Aziz, a spokesman for the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said his troops took control of an industrial area east of the river, a few miles from the government troops.
The coalition said last week that it will support its partners to defeat IS and "will do our utmost to ensure that (IS) terrorists do not move toward the border of our Iraqi partners."
Soldiers distribute Russian humanitarian aid at the check-point of the de-escalation zones near Homs, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. Hundreds of people, mostly women and elderly men, living on the both sides which recently was a frontline between Syrian government forces and the Free Syrian Army flocked to a Russian military police check-point on Wednesday to get Russian food aid. (AP Photo)
Overnight, a convoy of Islamic State militants and their relatives being evacuated crossed into Deir el-Zour from a desert area in central Syria, ending a standoff with the coalition that briefly overshadowed the battle for the province.
The evacuation, negotiated by Lebanon's Hezbollah group, removed the militants from the Syria-Lebanon border but angered Iraq and the U.S., which said the fighters should have been killed on the battlefield, not moved to the Iraq border.
On Wednesday, hundreds of people flocked to a Russian military checkpoint near Homs, Syria's third-largest city, to receive food aid.
Trainees of a bomb disposal unit prepare to practice a bomb search near Homs, Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. The Russian military in February opened a school in Aleppo to train Syrian sappers which was relocated to the outskirts of Homs several months later. (AP Photo)
A truce has been in effect in the area since August. Although rebels report occasional shelling, there has been a drop in violence since the agreement was brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey in May.
Russian military police and Syrian troops handed out plastic bags with flour and buckwheat to the group of mostly women and elderly men who huddled around them.
In this image made from video a long-range Kalibr cruise missile is launched by the Russian Navy submarine in the Mediterranean on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. Russia's military says it fired seven cruise missiles at Islamic State targets in the eastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zour. (AP Photo)
Russian Col. Alexander Sazonov told reporters brought to the checkpoint that Russia delivers 10 tons of food there per week and offers medical help, reinforcing an allegation by Moscow that Western powers and international organizations would not send aid to government-controlled areas of Syria.
A U.N. official in Syria who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to reporters said Thursday that humanitarian convoys to Homs province have not been canceled but merely delayed for various reasons, including security concerns. He said a convoy delivered aid in Homs province Aug. 19.
BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah this week struck a military post in northern Israel using a drone that fired two missiles. The attack wounded three soldiers, one of them seriously, according to the Israeli military.
Hezbollah has regularly fired missiles across the border with Israel over the past seven months, but the one on Thursday appears to have been the first successful missile airstrike it has launched from within Israeli airspace.
The group has stepped up its attacks on Israel in recent weeks, particularly since the Israeli incursion into the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. It has struck deeper inside Israel and introduced new and more advanced weaponry.
“This is a method of sending messages on the ground to the Israeli enemy, meaning that this is part of what we have, and if needed we can strike more,” said Lebanese political analyst Faisal Abdul-Sater who closely follows Hezbollah.
While the cross-border exchanges of fire have been ongoing since early October, “complex attacks” by Hezbollah began a few days after Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile barrage attack on Israel in mid-April.
In the past two weeks, Hezbollah has escalated further in response to the Israeli incursion into the city of southern Rafah in the Gaza Strip, a Lebanese official familiar with the group’s operations said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to detail military information to the media.
The Thursday afternoon attack by a drone carrying missiles came just days after Hezbollah launched three anti-tank guided missiles at an Israeli military post that controlled a surveillance balloon flying over the border. They released camera footage afterward to show they had hit their mark. Hours later, the Israeli military confirmed that the spy balloon had been shot down over Lebanon.
The night before, Hezbollah had carried out its deepest attack in Israel to date using explosive drones to strike at a base in Ilaniya near the city of Tiberias about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the Lebanon border. The Israeli military said the attack did not hurt anyone.
Abdul-Sater, the analyst, said the Iran-led coalition known as the axis of resistance, which includes the Palestinian militant group Hamas, has warned that if Israeli troops launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah in an attempt to go after Hamas, other fronts will also escalate.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed Wednesday that they attacked a U.S. destroyer while Iran-backed militants in Iraq have said they fired a series of drones toward Israel in recent weeks after having gone relatively quiet since February.
Hezbollah's use of more advanced weaponry, including drones capable of firing missiles, explosive drones and the small type of guided missile known as Almas, or Diamond, that was used to attack the base controlling the balloon has raised alarms within the Israeli military.
“Hezbollah has been escalating the situation in the north,” said military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. “They’ve been firing more and more.”
In adapting its attacks, Hezbollah has also managed to reduce the numbers of fighters lost compared with the early weeks of the conflict.
The group has lost more than 250 fighters so far, compared with 15 Israeli troops since fighting broke out along the Lebanon-Israel border a day after the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7.
According to a count by The Associated Press, Hezbollah lost 47 fighters in October and 35 in November, compared with 20 in April and 12 so far this month.
The official familiar with the group’s operations said Hezbollah had reduced the numbers of fighters along the border areas to bring down the numbers of casualties. While Hezbollah continues to fire Russian-made anti-tank Kornet missiles from areas close to the border, it has also shifted to firing drones and other types of rockets with heavy warheads — including Almas as well as Falaq and Burkan rockets — from areas several kilometers (miles) from the border.
Over the weekend, Hezbollah said it had launched a new rocket with a heavy warhead named Jihad Mughniyeh after a senior operative who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on southern Syria in 2015.
Eva J. Koulouriotis, a political analyst specialized in the Middle East and jihadi groups wrote on the social media platform X that Hezbollah's recent escalation likely has several goals, including raising the ceiling of the group's demands in any future negotiations for a border deal, as well as raising military pressure on Israel's military in light of the preparations for the battle in Rafah.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed in a speech last week that “we will stand, we will achieve our goals, we will hit Hamas, we will destroy Hezbollah, and we will bring security.”
On Monday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah reiterated in a speech that there will be no end to the fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border until Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip come to an end.
“The main goal of Lebanon’s front is to contribute to the pressure on the enemy to end the war on Gaza,” Nasrallah said.
His comments were a blow to attempts by foreign dignitaries, including U.S. and French officials, who have visited Beirut t o try to put an end to the violence that has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
A day after Nasrallah spoke, Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly visited Beirut and told Lebanon’s private LBC TV station that she was pushing for a cease-fire.
“We need the people living in the south of Lebanon to be able to go back to their homes," she said. "We need to make sure that the Israelis living in the northern part of Israel are able to get back to their homes also.”
Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassim warned Israel in a speech over the weekend against opening an all-out war.
“You have tried in the past and you were defeated and if you try again you will be defeated,” said Kassim, referring to the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah 34-day war that ended in a draw.
Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
Find more of AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Lebanese soldiers block a road that links to the scene where Israeli airstrikes attacked a vehicle and a small brick factory, in Najariyeh village, south Lebanon, May 17, 2024. Three separate drone strikes on a coastal village in south Lebanon Friday killed three people, including two Syrian citizens, security officials said. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Lebanese soldiers and Red Cross volunteers gather at a block road that links to the scene where Israeli airstrikes attacked a vehicle and a small brick factory, in Najariyeh village, south Lebanon, May 17, 2024. Three separate drone strikes on a coastal village in south Lebanon Friday killed three people, including two Syrian citizens, security officials said. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
FILE - Fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah carry out a training exercise in Aaramta village in the Jezzine District, southern Lebanon, Sunday, May 21, 2023. Lebanon's Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Family follow in grief as soldiers carry the casket of Israeli reserve Major Dor Zimel at his funeral in Even Yehuda, Israel, Monday, April 22, 2024. Zimel, 27, died after Iran-backed Lebanese militant Hezbollah group fired a volley of rockets and drones on northern Israel. The Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers deploy between the houses in the Israeli town of Metula, as seen from the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village of Kfar Kila, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
FILE - An Israeli house in the northern Israeli border town of Metula, which was damaged by Hezbollah shelling, is seen from the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border village of Kfar Kila, south Lebanon, Thursday, April 18, 2024. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)
FILE - Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers carry the casket of Israeli reserve Major Dor Zimel during his funeral in Even Yehuda, Israel, Monday, April 22, 2024. Zimel, 27, died of his wounds after Iran-backed Lebanese militant Hezbollah group fired a volley of rockets and drones on northern Israel. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - Smoke rises from inside an Israeli army position which was hit by Hezbollah fighters as seen from Tair Harfa village, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
FILE - Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - The fence of an Israeli military position is seen damaged after Hezbollah targeted it by rockets, on an occupied hill of Kfar Chouba village, southeast Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group is introducing new tactics and weapons against Israel as the war in Gaza drags on and Israeli troops enter parts of the southern city of Rafah. In mid-May 2024, Hezbollah has used a drone equipped with missiles to attack an Israeli post as well as an explosive drone to hit its deepest target so far since the clashes began seven months ago. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
