Russia Says 87 'Extremist' Fighters from Syria's Idlib Headed to Ukraine

The regional government headquarters of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, following a Russian attack, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (AP)
The regional government headquarters of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, following a Russian attack, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (AP)
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Russia Says 87 'Extremist' Fighters from Syria's Idlib Headed to Ukraine

The regional government headquarters of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, following a Russian attack, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (AP)
The regional government headquarters of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, following a Russian attack, on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (AP)

At least 87 foreign militants from various terrorist groups operating in Syria have left the Idlib countryside in northwestern Syria to Ukraine, reported the Sputnik news agency.

The agency quoted sources familiar with the matter as confirming that the militants - mostly Iraqis, French nationals, Tunisians and Chechens - from Hurras al-Din, Ansar al-Tawhid and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a militant faction formerly known as the Nusra Front, departed on Saturday.

The sources revealed that all the militants had been fighting in ISIS ranks before joining their new armed factions, noting that they are highly experienced in guerrilla warfare.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham transferred the militants on Thursday and Friday to Sarmada city (about five kilometers east of the Syrian-Turkish border). From there entered Turkey, from where they were transported to Ukraine.

Sources revealed that leader of the Nusra Front in Idlib Abu Mohammed al-Golani held a series of meetings last week with leaders of armed organizations in a mosque in the city center.

He urged them to encourage fighters to travel to Ukraine and fight against Russian forces, the sources added.

Golani insisted that only foreign fighters from active armed groups in Idlib could travel while Syrians must remain in their country.

On the other end of the divide, sources in Damascus said pro-regime figures have started to prepare the transport of fighters to join Russian forces in Ukraine.

Contracts for the fighters have been handed out. They would operate for a duration of seven months, earning $1,000 per month. About 23,000 fighters are ready to leave.



Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Hezbollah said its fighters on Thursday fired missiles at a military base near south Israel’s Ashdod, the first time it has targeted so deep inside Israel in more than a year of hostilities.

Hezbollah fighters "targeted... for the first time, the Hatzor air base" east of the southern city, around 150 kilometers from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, "with a missile salvo," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

A rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.
The service said paramedics found the body of the man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, after a rocket attack on Thursday.
Israel meanwhile struck targets in southern Lebanon and several buildings south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Israel has launched airstrikes against Lebanon after Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' attack on Israel last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It is not known how many of those killed were Hezbollah fighters and how many were civilians.
On the Israeli side, Hezbollah’s aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people and driven some 60,000 from their homes.