Russia has conducted more than 50 air strikes since Tuesday against Islamic State (IS) jihadists near the Syrian city of Palmyra, the defense ministry in Moscow said.
"The Russian air force has increased the intensity of its strikes against targets of the armed units of international terrorist organisations near the
city of Palmyra," the ministry said in a statement Thursday on its Facebook page.
Six Tupolev bombers flew out of an airbase in Russia on Thursday morning and conducted strikes east of Palmyra, near the cities of Arak and Sukhna, as well as in the Homs region, the statement said.
The ministry said the strikes had destroyed "a command centre, a field camp for IS fighters, two oil processing plants and a large quantity of the enemy's personnel and military hardware."
(AFP)