Russia has continued to ramp its bombardment of Syria, firing cruise missiles at both ISIS and rebel-held areas of the war-torn country from vessels in the Mediterranean Sea and long-range strategic bombers.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activist media outlets on Friday reported a large barrage of missile attacks striking rebel-held areas of the Idlib and Hama province where ISIS has no military presence.
A number of videos and pictures also circulated social media purporting to show not only the damage caused by the strikes in northwest Syria, but also the cruise missiles themselves flying over the area.
Moscow on Tuesday significantly upped the tempo of its aerial campaign in Syria after announcing that it now believed Metrojet Flight 9268 was brought down over the Sinai by a terrorist attack, which ISIS earlier claimed responsibility for.
The Russian Defense Ministry has since touted that it conducted three “massive” waves of airstrikes against so-called ISIS targets in Syria, saying that long-range Tu-22M3 bomber taking off from Russia had been firing air-based cruise missiles in conjunction with air strikes from Latakia-based Russian fighter jets.
Meanwhile, US officials told Reuters that Russia has also been firing cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea, for the first time since the start of its military intervention in Syria on September 30.
Although Moscow insists that that it is striking ISIS targets, its own public statements reveal that it has hit targets in the Idlib province, which is controlled by the Islamist Army of Conquest rebel coalition that has no ties with ISIS.
Strikes against Idlib and Hama
A flurry of reports emerged by midday Friday that Russia had launched its fourth massive missile barrage since November 17, this time hitting targets in rebel-held Idlib and Hama.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that six missiles had struck areas on “on the road connecting the villages of Ehsim and Al-Barra, as well as other areas in Jabal al-Zawiya and the village of Al-Sahn near Jisr al-Shughour.”
“This caused injuries and material damage to civilian property.”
Meanwhile in the Hama province, the monitoring NGO said that“what was thought to be a ballistic missile hit an area [near] the village of Sarireef to the west of Hama.”
“News has also emerged of the death of four civilians and the injury [of others] due to a suspected ballistic missile strike on areas in the village of Midan al-Ghazal in rural Hama’s Jabal Shahshabo [area] this morning.”
Activist media also reported on the Russian missile strikes throughout northwest Syria, with Shaam News saying that a barrage rocked Idlib’s Jabal al-Zawiya area.
“Jabal al-Zawiya’s villages were shaken at dawn this morning by 6 powerful explosions after they were targeted with 6 Russian Kalibr missiles,” the activist-run network reported.
“The rockets caused massive damage to residential buildings and the areas where they fell. They also injured over ten civilian, including women and children in the village of Ain La Rose.”
“Civil defense teams are working in cooperation with locals to collect the remains of the ballistic missiles, fill the large craters that they left, and move the injured and families affected by the bombing.”
Watch a Russian cruise missile fly over Idlib:
And here's video of Russia firing the cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea:
SEE ALSO: There are a lot of CIA-vetted Syrian rebel groups taking it to Assad
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Donald Trump's 'strange' morning habit tells you everything you need to know about him