Two Russian air strikes in Syria yesterday hit a training camp operated by a rebel group that received military training from the US Central Intelligence Agency in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, its commander said.

The attack on the Liwa Suqour al-Jabal group in Idlib province was at least the third Russian air raid on a mainstream Free Syrian Army rebel faction that has received military support from President Bashar al-Assad’s foreign enemies.

Hassan Haj Ali, head of the Liwa Suqour al-Jabal, said the camp in Idlib province was struck by around 20 missiles in two separate sorties.

Haj Ali, a Syrian army captain who defected after the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, said some of the guards of the facility were slightly wounded in the attack.

“Russia is challenging everyone and saying there is no alternative to Bashar,” Haj Ali said. He said the Russian jets had been identified by members of his group who once served as Syrian air force pilots.

Russia is challenging everyone, saying there is no alternative to Bashar

The CIA has run a covert training programme for vetted Syrian rebel groups deemed moderate by Western states that have supported the uprising against Assad. Vetted groups in northern Syria have received military support via an operations room based in Turkey.

The programme is separate to the US military’s train and equip programme aimed at building a Syrian rebel force to fight radical Islamic State insurgents. That programme is struggling. The Free Syrian Army was set up by Syrian army defectors after the uprising. The FSA today is a loose alliance of rebel groups without a centralised command structure. Haj Ali said his fighters had attended training in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It is at least the third Free Syrian Army group to report being targeted in air strikes that Russia says are targeting Islamic State.

A man runs past a burning vehicle at a base controlled by rebel fighters, that was targeted by Russian airstrikes at Hass cemeteries in Idlib, Syria, yesterday. Photo: Reuters

US Senator John McCain said yesterday Russia’s initial air strikes in Syria targeted recruits in the Free Syrian Army rebel group backed by the US. FSA groups have been eclipsed in much of Syria by jihadists such as Islamic State and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

The head of another FSA recipient of foreign military support said it was also hit by a Russian air strike overnight. Yasser Abu Ammar, head of al-Wosta division, said one of his group’s headquarters was hit in the Hama countryside.

“Now Russia through these air strikes is destroying all efforts to seek a political solution,” Abu Ammar said.