The Russian Air forces eliminated two top Islamic State (IS) field commanders and some 180 terrorists during airstrikes in Syria in early June, the Russian Defense1 Ministry2 said Saturday.
俄国防部周六表示,俄空军六月初在叙利亚对伊斯兰国发动空袭,两名高级战场指挥官以及大约180名恐怖分子被消灭。
Based on disclosures by their unmanned aerial vehicles, the Russian troops in Syria carried out strikes on IS
militants3 and
thwarted4 the terrorist group's planned sortie against the defense lines of the Syrian government forces in the city of Deir ez-Zor, according to a statement of the ministry.
"The preemptive airstrikes, which the Russian
Aerospace5 Forces carried out on the sites of ISIL facilities on June 6 and June 8, killed ISIL field commanders Abu Omar al-Baljiki and Abu Yassin al-Masri" Russia's Interfax news agency cited the ministry's statement as saying, using another
acronym6 of the terrorist group.
In addition, a total of 180 IS militants were also killed, and 16 automotive and armored vehicles and tanks, one
artillery7, four control posts and an
ammunition8 storage
depot9 were destroyed as a result of the strikes, the statement said.
The Defense Ministry said Friday that an airstrike it carried out in northern Syria on May 28 might have killed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. So far, no official
confirmation10 of it has been released.