BEIRUT: At least 12 militants from the Islamic State (IS) group have been killed in Russia’s first air strikes on the extremist faction’s main Syrian bastion.
Russia’s defense ministry confirmed it had carried out strikes on Raqa province on Thursday. It said Russian Su-34 planes struck “an IS training camp near the village of Maadan Jadid and a camouflaged command post at Kasrat Faraj, southwest of Raqa.
Russian defence ministry said on Friday that its war planes had “conducted 18 sorties on 12 positions held by the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria.”
The statement said Russian raids destroyed “a command post and communications centre” held by IS in Daret Ezza in northern Aleppo province, as well as bunkers and weapons depots in Maaret al-Numan and Habeet in northwest Idlib province. Raids also struck “an IS command post” in Kafr Zeita in central Hama province.
