{"id":40140,"date":"2017-08-18T14:49:14","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T14:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:18:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:18:06","slug":"russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MOSCOW \u2014 The Russian military says its aircraft are supporting a Damascus government offensive against the Islamic State group in a town in central Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Russian Defense Ministry says the Syrian army is now completing efforts to encircle ISIS militants near the town of Akerbat in Hama province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Friday\u2019s military statement says Syrian troops seized key heights in the area, cutting off avenues of supply for the militants. It says the militants have started fleeing the area in small groups, making their way toward Deir el-Zour, the largest city still under IS control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ministry says Russian drones are patrolling the area round-the-clock, directing air strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia has waged an air campaign in Syria since September 2015, helping Syrian President Bashar Assad\u2019s forces gain ground and achieve key victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MOSCOW \u2014 The Russian military says its aircraft are supporting a Damascus government offensive against the Islamic State group in a town in central Syria. The Russian Defense Ministry says the Syrian army is now completing efforts to encircle ISIS militants near the town of Akerbat in Hama province. Friday\u2019s military statement says Syrian troops [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1355],"class_list":["post-40140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CY2X4TKEFFE5XC3EHHT2NTBJYE","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MOSCOW \u2014 The Russian military says its aircraft are supporting a Damascus government offensive against the Islamic State group in a town in central Syria.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MOSCOW \u2014 The Russian military says its aircraft are supporting a Damascus government offensive against the Islamic State group in a town in central Syria.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-18T14:49:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T07:18:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/18\\\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/18\\\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2017-08-18T14:49:14+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T07:18:06+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/18\\\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 140,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Flashpoints\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/18\\\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/18\\\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/18\\\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria - Navy Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2017-08-18T14:49:14+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T07:18:06+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"MOSCOW \u2014 The Russian military says its aircraft are supporting a Damascus government offensive against the Islamic State group in a town in central Syria.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/18\\\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/18\\\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/18\\\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Flashpoints\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"flashpoints\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Navy Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria - Navy Times","description":"MOSCOW \u2014 The Russian military says its aircraft are supporting a Damascus government offensive against the Islamic State group in a town in central Syria.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria","og_description":"MOSCOW \u2014 The Russian military says its aircraft are supporting a Damascus government offensive against the Islamic State group in a town in central Syria.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/","og_site_name":"Navy Times","article_published_time":"2017-08-18T14:49:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T07:18:06+00:00","author":"The Associated Press","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Associated Press","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria","datePublished":"2017-08-18T14:49:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T07:18:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/"},"wordCount":140,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Flashpoints","Newsletters"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/","name":"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria - Navy Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-08-18T14:49:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T07:18:06+00:00","description":"MOSCOW \u2014 The Russian military says its aircraft are supporting a Damascus government offensive against the Islamic State group in a town in central Syria.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/18\/russia-says-its-jets-helping-encircle-isis-held-town-in-syria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Flashpoints","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/","ad_zone":"flashpoints"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Russia says its jets helping encircle ISIS-held town in Syria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","name":"Navy Times","description":"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization","name":"Navy Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","caption":"Navy Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Navy Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40147,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40140\/revisions\/40147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40140"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=40140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}