Russian warplanes bombed Syrian rebel-held mountainous areas in the western coastal province of Latakia on Monday as Syrian government forces hit the area with artillery and rocket fire, an opposition group and a war monitor said.
The Syrian army and allied forces also clashed with rebel fighters while trying to advance on a frontline town near the strategic Jabal al-Akrad mountain range, said Jaish al-Nasr and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
An opposition tracking center that monitors military aircraft movements said the airstrikes by Russian warplanes had stopped by the early afternoon.
There was no mention of the operation on Russian or Syrian news agencies.