Ground operation needed to combat Daesh: Syria

The Syrian information minister has underscored the need for a ground campaign in addition to airstrikes in ongoing battle against Takfiri Daesh terrorists operating in the Arab country.

In an interview with Russia’s Sputnik news agency on Thursday, Omran al-Zoubi said that a victory over Daesh “is not possible only through airstrikes. A military operation on the ground is needed in addition to the air operation. The Syrian army has experience in this field.”

Zoubi further noted that the Damascus government would issue a request for help in the anti-Daesh ground mission if the need arose.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Syrian minister stressed that Syria would allow Russian military bases on its territory if Moscow requested for the permission.

"There were no requests for expanding military bases in Syria from Moscow. However, the door on this issue is open between Damascus and Moscow," Zoubi added.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy and a terror campaign by Daesh for over four years.

In a related development on Wednesday, Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces General Ali Abdullah Ayoub announced the launch of a massive operation against the strongholds of foreign-backed terrorists in the northwestern Aleppo Province.

Moscow also began its military campaign against terrorists in Syria on September 30 upon a request from Damascus, shortly after the upper house of the Russian parliament gave Putin the mandate to use military force in Syria.

Earlier this week, Commander of Russian Aerospace Forces Colonel General Viktor Bondarev said that Russian aircraft deployed in Syria have delivered more than 110 airstrikes against Daesh positions.

Syria's Ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad further said that some 40 percent of Daesh infrastructure in Syria has been demolished since the beginning of Russian military campaign.

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