A frame grab taken from footage released by Russia's Defence Ministry, shows smoke rising after airstrikes carried out by Russian air force on what Russia says was a bomb factory in Maarat al-Numan, south of the town of Idlib, Syria. Reuters
Reuters/Moscow
Russia's Air Force has carried out more than 60 flights in Syria in the past 72 hours and significantly reduced the military potential of terrorists there, a senior official in the Russian army told Russian news agencies on Saturday.
The official, Andrei Kartapolov from the Russian army's General Staff, said Russia's Air Force had targeted more than 50 Islamic State objects in its air strikes.
"The strikes were carried out around the clock from the Hmeymim air base along the whole depth of the territory of Syria," Kartapolov said, according to RIA news agency.
He said Russia had warned the United States ahead of launching its air strikes and recommended that the United States stop its own flights in areas where Russia's air force was operating.
"The Americans told us during discussions, that no one apart from terrorists were in that region," Kartapolov said, referring to the area where Russia's Air Force was active, according to Interfax.
