MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. Russia and Turkey conducted a joint anti-Islamic State operation near al-Bab in Syria’s Aleppo province on January 21, the Russian defense ministry said on Monday.

"On January 21, Russia’s aerospace group and Turkish air forces conducted another joint air operation to deliver airstrikes on Islamic State targets near the settlement of al-Bab in the province of Aleppo," the ministry said. "The operation that had been agreed with the Syrian side involved three Russian attack aircraft, including two Su-24M planes and a Su-34 bomber, and four Turkish warplanes, namely two F-16 and two F-4 jets. Twenty-two targets were hit."

On the following day, January 22, 2017, the command of the Russian Hmeymim-based aerospace group received from the international coalition’s headquarters information about locations of Islamic State targets near the settlement of al-Bab in the province of Aleppo.

"Following a reconnaissance check with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and space reconnaissance tools, two Russian warplanes and two planes of the international coalition delivered strikes against terrorist targets," the ministry said. "As a result of the joint operation, several munitions and fuels depots and concentrations of militants with heavy weapons were destroyed."

Russia and Turkey conducted their first joint air operation to hit Islamic State targets on January 18, 2017.

A total of 36 targets were hit near the settlement of al-Bab in the Aleppo province. The operation that had been agreed with the Syria side involved nine Russian attack aircraft and eight Turkish warplanes, the Russian defense ministry reported.