The commander of Russia’s force grouping in Syria said that aviation of the US-led international coalition is impeding the struggle of the Syrian government forces against terrorists

MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The US-led coalition, including the Kurdish armed units, lets militants of the Islamic State terrorist group leave Raqqa instead of killing them, the commander of Russia’s force grouping in Syria, Sergey Surovikin, said. "Instead of eliminating terrorists guilty of killing hundreds and thousands of Syrian civilians, the US-led coalition together with the Democratic Forces Union controlled by it enters into collusion with ringleaders of the ISIL (IS, former name of the Islamic State group outlawed in Russia - TASS), who give up the settlements they had seized without fighting and head to the provinces where the Syrian government forces are active," he said.

According to Surovikin, the command of the Russian force grouping in Syria sees in the Raqqa area militants leaving the city and its suburbs unhindered. "According to available reliable information, in early June ISIL terrorists entered into collusion with the command of the Kurdish armed units, which are part of the Democratic Forces Union, left the populated localities of Tadia and al-Hamam located 19 kilometers southwest of Raqqa offering no resistance and headed toward Palmyra," he said. All militants’ attempts to leave through the corridor set up in southern Raqqa are thwarted by Russian troops, he added. However, the stance taken by the United States and the coalition it leads evokes questions from the Russian Defense Ministry. "One gets the impression that the Americans are using ISIL to offer stubborn resistance to the movement of government troops making use of the legend about the fight against international terrorism in Syria," Surovikin said. However, some Western news agencies are misleading the international community by providing reports about the allegedly violent armed clashes between the coalition and ISIL militants in the Raqqa province, he added. US-led coalition aviation impedes Syrian troops’ war on terror Surovikin also said that aviation of the US-led international coalition is impeding the struggle of the Syrian government forces against terrorists. The Syrian government forces have considerably improved their positions in the south of the province of As-Suwayda, the Russian general said.