He added that a strike on a target in Deir Ezzor utilizing multiple cruise missiles had killed more than 600 militants.
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The Russian military says it fired 18 cruise missiles on Friday, destroying seven “Islamist” targets in Raqqa, Idlib and Aleppo provinces.
“But for now that is not enough to cleanse Syria of rebels and terrorists and to protect Russians from possible terrorist attacks”, he said.
Russian aviation group in Syria has doubled aircraft fleet to 69 aircraft involved in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIL).
Overall, Russian warplanes flew 126 combat sorties Wednesday, and on Thursday, more than 100 sorties are to be flown, Kartapolov said.
Earlier this week, Obama said that he welcomed the intensified air campaign by the Russians and added, “We are actually helping facilitate them doing so”.
An investigation by British newspaper The Financial Times in October estimated that the militants reap a few $1.5 million a day from oil, based on the price of $45 a barrel. Syrian government control is limited to an air base and part of Deir al-Zor city.
French President Francois Hollande is set to travel to Washington and Moscow next week for talks on joint military action against IS, and Putin already has ordered the military to cooperate with the French “like with allies”.
A video shows the servicemen scrawling “For Paris” (За Париж) and “For our people” (За наших) on the sides of the FAB-250-M62 high explosive bombs hanging from the ports of the Russian Su-34 attack jet before it starts along the runway for takeoff, according to Russia Today.
Do Russian strikes kill Syrian civilians?
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov still maintains that Russian Federation will not engage in a ground operation against the ISIL in Syria.
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Russia’s Tuesday airstrikes were not coordinated with the U.S. though the United States of America was given prior warning of them.
