AMMAN (Reuters) - Russian jets struck an opposition held town in southwest Syria on Sunday, opposition sources said, in the first air cover provided by Moscow to an expanding Syrian army offensive to recapture the strategic area bordering Jordan and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. Two tracking centers that monitor military aircraft movements recorded at least twenty strikes on Busra al Harir, two sources told Reuters.Syrian government forces had so far made heavy use of artillery and rockets in the assault begun last week and Russian warplanes that were critical to the recovery of other rebel-held areas had not been deployed until now.
Russian warplanes provide air cover for the offensive for the first time.