ISIS fighters advanced Friday to the outskirts of Syria's second city Aleppo, despite 10 days of Russian air strikes that Moscow says are aimed at routing the jihadists.
Moscow announced on Friday that its raids had killed several hundred ISIS fighters and hit more than 60 "terrorist targets" in Syria over the past 24 hours, AFP reports.
Deputy head of the Russian General Staff Lieutenant Igor Makushev told reporters that "Su-34M and SU-24SM warplanes hit 60 terrorist targets".
He said Russia had bombed a command post in ISIS stronghold Raqa, killing two senior field commanders and some 200 fighters, according to intercepted radio communications. Strikes on Aleppo killed "some 100 militants", and other raids struck command posts and training camps in Latakia, Hama and Idlib.
Western governments say the vast majority of Russian strikes have targeted rebel groups other than IS in an attempt to defend President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
And despite the Russian raids, ISIS militants have reached their closest position yet to Aleppo in northern Syria, a monitoring group reported. (Read More)(Includes a video)
