Summary Air force destroyed headquarters of IS and a weapons warehouse in Idlib area: Defence ministry
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia said Thursday its warplanes had bombed four Islamic State targets in Syria overnight, including a command centre and weapons depot.
The air force "destroyed the headquarters of terrorist groups and a weapons warehouse in Idlib area and a three-story fortified command centre in Hama region," the defence ministry said
"As a result of a direct bomb hit, a factory equipping cars with explosives north of the city of Homs was completely destroyed," it said in a statement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to admit that Russia was targeting not only IS sites in the air strikes that were first launched on Wednesday, saying it operates according to a list apparently agreed with the Syrian government.
"These organisations are known," he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. "The targets are determined in coordination with the Syrian defence ministry."
The warplanes made eight sorties and avoided civilian areas, the defence ministry said.
"To avoid hitting the civilian population, the targets for Russian air strikes are set strictly outside civilian areas and only on the basis of confirmed intelligence which comes from several sources," including satellite images and reconnaissance from unmanned aerial vehicles, the ministry added.
Russian news agencies quoted defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying Moscow had sent some 50 planes and helicopters to Syria, as well as marines.
"For the first time marines of the Black Sea fleet will be used to guard Russian military infrastructure in Syria, including the... Tartus (naval facility) and a temporary airbase of the Russian airforce in Latakia," he said.
Troops will be rotated and will include special forces from Russia s warships in the Mediterranean as well as the 7th division of the country s airborne troops from the southern city Novorossiysk, Konashenkov added.
