Russia on Sunday said it was helping the Syrian army “repel” armed opposition forces in three northern provinces, as Moscow seeks to support the government led by its ally Bashar al-Assad.

Axar.az reports that citing Al Arabia, “The Syrian Arab Army, with the assistance of the Russian Aerospace Forces, is continuing its operation to repel terrorist aggression in the provinces of Idlib, Hama and Aleppo,” the Russian military said in a briefing on its website.

“Over the past day, missile and bombing strikes were carried out on places where militants and equipment were gathered,” it said in the same briefing, without saying where or by whom.

It said at least “320 militants were destroyed.”

Moscow is Syrian leader al-Assad’s most important military backer, having turned the tide of the civil war in his favor when it intervened in 2015.