MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. Russia’s aerospace group in Syria has dealt 182 strikes against terrorists of the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) who had intruded into Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province from western Iraq, Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov said on Tuesday.
"On October 10, Russian planes continued to destroy Islamic State militants who had intruded into Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province from western Iraq. Over the past 24 hours Russia’s aerospace group dealt 182 strikes against the international terrorists," Konashenkov said.
Reconnaissance drones last night spotted a well-fortified stronghold near Mayadin on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.
"The facility included a stockpile of artillery and tank ammunition and a large network of underground tunnels accommodating a large group of terrorists - natives of Asian republics of the CIS and Algeria," Konashenkov said.
Two pairs of Sukhoi-34 bombers were commissioned to hit the targets. Fourteen consecutive strikes were made.
"Objective monitoring means confirmed the destruction of four tanks, three armored personnel carriers, nine off-road vehicles armed with heavy machineguns and two multiple rocket launchers. Fifty terrorists were killed and another 30 sealed off in the underground tunnels," Konashenkov said.
Forty minutes later a Sukhoi-34 bomber carried out another attack against this stronghold to kill another 20 terrorists, who had arrived for evacuating those injured.
Konashenkov said a command center of the Islamic State and three groups of terrorists who had arrived from Iraq as reinforcements had been destroyed near Hatla.
"The elimination of 34 militants, five off-road vehicles carrying large caliber weapons and two truckfuls of ammunition has been confirmed," he said.