Russia said today that airstrikes carried out this month had killed about 180 Islamic State jihadists in Syria, including two field commanders.
"As a result of June 6 and 8 aerial strikes on targets belonging to IS fighters, IS field commanders Abu Omar al- Belgiki and Abu Yasin al-Masri were killed" in Deir Ezzor, a province held mostly by IS forces, the defence ministry said in a statement carried by the Interfax news agency.
The ministry said that around 180 fighters were killed, and that 16 military vehicles were destroyed along with weapons stores.
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The defence ministry did not make any mention of the possible death of Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, after saying Friday that it was seeking to verify whether he had been killed in a night raid in Syria last month.
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