Second Group Of Russian Warplanes Leaves Syria

Latakia:  Russia pulled out its second group of warplanes from Syria on Wednesday following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order.

Russia’s decision came as the warring parties in the five-year Syrian war resumed a second round of peace talks in Geneva on Monday that have been described as the last chance to avert greater bloodshed, in a war in which more than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 11 million displaced.

Putin ordered the "main part" of Russia's forces out of Syria on Monday, but pledged to keep some air and naval bases in the war-torn nation. A senior official said strikes would also continue against "terrorist targets", and a monitoring group said Russian aircraft had struck the Islamic State group around the ancient city of Palmyra.

The new batch of planes leaving the airbase in Syria’s Latakia province included Su-25 fighter jets and the giant Il-76 cargo planes. The first Russian force planes and pilots left Syria on Tuesday, after the withdrawal orders came from Putin.

Russia stepped into the Syria war in late September in support of President Bashar al-Assad, bombing the warring factions fighting to oust him, as well as air raids against the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

In Geneva, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, said that the Russian withdrawal is a “significant development” towards the end of conflict. “It is not a coincidence, at least we should not consider as a coincidence, that the decision took place in the very beginning of intra-Syria talks,” he said.