Moscow: Russian jets carried out air strikes on 12 Islamic State sites in Syria yesterday, the defence ministry said, as Moscow expanded its week-old bombing campaign in the war-torn country.
The Russian warplanes hit the region around the eastern city of Deir Ezzor and in the provinces of Damascus, Idlib and Latakia, the defence ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said the planes hit “logistical infrastructure, command posts, training camps and bases” belonging to IS jihadists in some 20 sorties.
In their first strikes in the region around Deir Ezzor, the jets dropped bunker-busting bombs to destroy two IS command posts, the statement said.
The Islamic State group controls most of Deir Ezzor province and city and has been embroiled in fierce clashes with Syrian government forces over a military airport adjacent to the city.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said civilians reported two targeted strikes near the airport but it was unclear if they were carried out by Russian jets. Elsewhere, Moscow said it hit IS fighters and a weapons plant in the Ghouta region in Damascus province.
There was no mention in the defence ministry’s roundup of a bombing near the city of Palmyra after Moscow denied it had hit the IS-held Unesco World Heritage site despite reports of strikes there by Syrian state TV. AFP
