Russia, Syrian Forces Exclusively Strike Objects Verified By Intelligence - Nebenzia

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th June, 2019) Russian and Syrian government forces are carrying out strikes only at targets verified by intelligence, Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria.

"We repeat once again that all hostilities are aimed at exclusively eliminating hotbeds of terrorism and once again we stress that the armed forces of Syria and the Russian aerospace forces are exclusively striking terrorist objects that have been confirmed by intelligence information," Nebenzia said on Tuesday.

Nebenzia noted that Russia repeatedly hears from some members of the UN Security Council about the need to adhere to the Sochi memorandum of September 17, 2018.

"We have not renounced from it, the Memorandum is being implemented. There, black on white, it says that it is necessary to combat terrorist activities," Nebenzia said.

The Russian ambassador called on the UN Secretariat and specialized agencies, including the World Health Organization, to "not rush to publish unverified information" with respect to the situation in Syria.

"That needs to be taken from reliable non-political sources and it must absolutely be re-verified, including checking whether the infrastructure that has allegedly been hit by strikes has been through the deconfliction process.

Unfortunately, for the time being we still have serious doubts over the reliability of these sources and the methodology used to verify them," Nebenzia said.

Over the past several weeks terrorists have increased the number of attacks in Syria's northwestern provinces, particularly the Idlib province. Syrian government forces have responded by enhancing their own attacks on terrorists in the province.

Most of the province of Idlib is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of Islamic terror groups led by the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front (banned in Russia).

Syria has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government and various opposition groups, including terrorist organizations, since 2011. The Syrian army and other government forces have now regained control over most of the country's territories and concluded a ceasefire agreement with the opposition.

Russia, Turkey and Iran are the guarantors of the ceasefire in the conflict-ravaged Syria. Russia carries out humanitarian operations across the country on a regular basis and helps Damascus in providing safe passage for the return of Syrian refugees.