Russian Air Force Kills Terrorist Group Leader Murad Margoshvili In Strike In Syria

Russian fighter jets at Khmeimim Air Base, Latakia, Syria. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru/Russian Ministry of Defense)

JAKARTA - Russian Air Force (VKS) forces succeeded in eliminating a commander of the terrorist group Junud al-Sham, Russian Presidential Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told reporters on Wednesday.

"Recently, the Russian Air Force managed to eliminate one of the leaders of the Junud al-Sham group, Murad Margoshvili (known as Muslim Abu Walid al Shishani). This is an unclean individual who fought in Chechnya, with the blood of many civilians on his hands," he explained, quoted from TASS December 22.

The Special Envoy further explained that Russia's anti-terror work in Syria will continue.

"Only on condition that each target attacked is checked several times for absolute reliability. The accusations voiced that the Russian side attacked a school is not true," he explained.

To note, the majority of active military commanders in Russia are currently said to have gained experience and forged their fighting skills in Syria. And, the experience gained is used to develop training curricula in the country.

President Putin revealed that the majority of commanders of Russian military formations and regiments also received qualitative growth in the level of training of the command staff, thanks to the war experience gained.

"All commanders of all armies, Air Force and Air Defense Army, more than 85 percent of commanders of military formations and regiments have acquired combat experience in the Syrian Arab Republic," President Putin said last May.

"Now (we) rely on it in maneuvering, command and training staff and training, as well as in the training of personnel of military units and formations," he continued.

Cited from CNBC, since the domestic war broke out in Syria in 2011, Russia has become one of the countries that has actively deployed its troops, to support the forces of the Bashar al-Assad regime, against anti-government forces and the ISIS terrorist group.