Syria landmine explosion 'kills Russian general'

The Russian military says one of its generals is killed and two other servicemen were wounded in the attack

Syrian President Bashar Al Assad wears a face mask while receiving a Russian delegation in Damascus.  EPA

A Russian general was killed and two other servicemen were wounded by a landmine explosion in Syria, the Russian defence ministry said.

It said the attack took place in the southeast province of Deir Ezzor when a Russian military convoy was returning to the base after a “humanitarian” mission.

The statement, released to the Interfax, RIA Novosti and Tass news agencies, confirmed the three servicemen were wounded in the blast and that a “senior military adviser with the rank of major general” died during an evacuation while receiving medical treatment.

Thousands of Russian troops are stationed across Syria in support of its army.

Moscow’s military intervention in 2015, four years into the Syrian conflict, helped keep President Bashar Al Assad in power and started a long, bloody reconquest of territory lost to rebels in the early stages of the war.

A joint Turkish-Russian patrol in northwest Syria’s Idlib region was hit by a blast on Monday, but no troops were injured.

In July, three Russian and several Turkish soldiers were wounded in Idlib when a joint military patrol was hit by an improvised explosive device.