Russian soldiers advised to scare Syrians by saying 'mukhabarat'

The Russian military has advised troops deployed to Syria to tell "annoying locals" they are members of the country's feared intelligence service to make them go away.

Leaked Russian military pamphlets have revealed that soldiers have been told to mention the mukhabarat if Syrians try to harass them, according to brochures obtained by Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

"If a Syrian behaves inappropriately, for example by cheating, insulting or trying to bother you, then you should say the word 'mukhabarat'," one pamphlet advises.

"The word means something like: state security, intelligence and police and will usually scare locals and make them leave," it adds.

The Syrian regime's notorious security agencies have been responsible for the abduction, torture, rape and killing of thousands of people, including children, since the beginning of Syria's uprising in 2011.

Human Rights Watch documented horrific mass deaths and torture in the agency's detention facilities in a December 2015 report.

The military guide book also urges servicemen to avoid speaking about the country's "very difficult" political situation with locals.

It also features a basic Russian-Arabic phrase book with entries such as "stop!", "I will shoot", "put your hands up", "lay down your weapon" and "retreat!".

One pamphlet also gives tips on how to spot Islamic State group [IS] informants.

Russian media last month reported that scores of Chechens have been sent in as military police to Syria, with one video showing them chatting in the Chechen language while getting ready for their sendoff and wearing military police uniforms.

Moscow has been a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and forces in the country's devastating nearly six-year long civil war.

Since September 2015, Russia had boosted its firepower on land in Syria and off the coast in the Mediterranean in support of regime forces targeting the second city of Aleppo.

Troops loyal to Russia's ally Assad finally ousted rebels from the city last month in their biggest victory in more than five years of fighting, paving the way for the Kremlin to launch a fresh push for a political solution to the conflict.