Russia and Turkey carry out first joint air strikes in operation outside Aleppo

A Russian Foreign Ministry video grab made on March 15, 2016, shows Russian Su-34 bombers and a Tupolev Tu-154 transport plane (R) flying above an unknown location in Syria AFP/Getty Images

Russian and Turkish war planes have joined forces to combat Isis in northern Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed.

The country’s air forces targeted the militants’ stronghold of al-Bab, around 25 miles (40 kilometres) northeast of Aleppo, on Wednesday, Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi said in a televised statement. Nine Russian jets and eight Turkish war planes were involved in the offensive.

“The assessment of the initial results... showed the strikes were highly effective,” he said. 

The operation, conducted in agreement with the Syrian government, shows unprecedented cooperation between Ankara and Moscow.

Russia and Turkey are responsible for brokering a new round of peace talks between the Syrian opposition and the regime, due to begin in the Kazakh capital of Astana on January 23. 

Turkey, which backs Syria’s Sunni rebels, has recently softened its stance on the political fate of Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, prioritising its need to curb both Kurdish and Isis expansion in the border region. 

Russian firepower utilised on the behalf of the Syrian government have been widely credited with turning the tide of the war in Mr Assad’s favour. 

Following the fall of rebel-held Aleppo last month, Russia said that the country was de-escalating its military presence in the country.

However, Russian jets are still assisting a Syrian army offensive to take back the ancient city of Palmyra and fight off a renewed Isis assault on the besieged town of Deir al-Zor. 

Significant numbers of Isis fighters fleeing the US-led coalition offensive against Mosul in neighboring Iraq were streaming into Syria “almost unobstructed,”  Lieutenant-General Sergei Rudskoi added.

The Syrian government, Turkey and Russia, as well as a US-led bombing campaign, are all engaged in driving Isis back to its de facto capital of Raqqa. 

The Western coalition bombing  is an encroachment on Syria’s sovereignty, Mr Assad’s government says. 

Until this week, Turkey was also bombing both Kurdish and Isis forces without the permission of the Syrian authorities.