Al-Nusra
© Hosam Katan / Reuters
Terrorist group Al-Nusra Front is receiving daily arms shipments across the border from Turkey, the Russian General Staff says. The Al-Qaeda offshoot used the truce between government forces and moderate rebels in Syria to regroup and renew hostilities. Al-Nusra Front remains a major destabilizing factor in Syria, Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy told journalists on Friday. "Damascus is being continuously shelled from Eastern Ghouta. There were numerous attempts to capture power station near Homs and block the road connecting Aleppo and Damascus. The flow of trucks carrying weapons and ammunition from Turkey continues, with border crossings reported on daily basis," he said.

The general added that Al-Nusra Front attacks are confirmed by other nations as well, and that they agree with Russia's assessment of the negative impact of the militant group. "It's obvious that the terrorist group, which operates in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, is currently the biggest stumbling block for the process of expanding the truce to new territories in northern Syria," Rudskoy said. Al-Nusra Front benefited from the truce because some of the territories under its control are mixed with those, which were designated as held by so-called moderate rebel forces and which are excluded from Russian airstrike missions, he stressed. Rudskoy also blasted Turkey for continued shelling of Kurdish forces across the border.