A still image taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on Tuesday shows airstrikes, carried out by the Russian frigate Admiral Essen and hitting what the Defence Ministry says was an Islamic State target, in Deir al-Zor province, Syria. (Reuters photo)MOSCOW -- A Russian air strike has killed around 40 Islamic State fighters, including four senior commanders, near the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor, Russia's defence ministry said on Friday. The strike, carried out by Su-34 fighter-bombers and Su-35 fighters, came after an intelligence report on Sept 5 showed that top Islamic State commanders were meeting at a secret underground command post in the vicinity of Deir al-Zor, the ministry said on its Facebook page. Khalimov, the US-trained commander of Tajikistan's elite police force, defected to Islamic State in April 2015 and later posted a video address, vowing to return home to establish sharia law in his Central Asian nation and to take jihad to Russia and the United States. On Tuesday Syrian government forces, supported by Russian air strikes and cruise missile launches, reached troops besieged for years by Islamic State in Deir al-Zor, the militants' last major stronghold in Syria.

Source: Bangkok Post September 08, 2017 08:48 UTC