Russia fires cruise missiles at targets near Aleppo

Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired cruise missiles at targets near Aleppo on Friday, August 19, a further sign of Moscow’s broadening military effort in Syria days after it began to fly bombing missions from an airbase in Iran, Reuters reports.

Russia’s three cruise missile launches were its first against targets in Syria from the Mediterranean, with previous ones made from its Caspian Sea fleet. 

Russia Today (RT) confirmed the story and published on line a video showing moments of firing the missiles.

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On Tuesday Russian bombers began flying missions in Syria from Hamedan airbase in Iran.

The upsurge in fighting and airstrikes in and around Aleppo, split between Assad terrorists-held west and opposition-held eastern sectors, has prompted growing international concern, galvanized by pictures on Thursday of a dazed, bloodied child Omran Daqneesh.

The plight of civilians in Aleppo has been aggravated in besieged areas by dire shortages of basic goods, leading the World Food Program to warn of a "nightmarish" situation.