Warplanes kill dozens of ISIL/ISIS fighters in central Syria

At least 38 fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) group have been killed over the last 24 hours as Syrian government warplanes bombarded the group's strongholds in central Syria, a monitoring group said.

Monday's strikes hit Palmyra and two other towns in Homs province, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights' director Rami Abdel Rahman said on Tuesday.

The Syrian air force has been increasing its strikes against ISIL in recent days as it received reinforcements from Russia, he said.

• "The number of raids is growing and the strikes are more precise after the Syrian air force received arms and more efficient planes from Moscow," said Abdel Rahman, whose group relies on broad network of civilian, military and medical sources inside Syria.

Meanwhile, satellite photos taken in mid-September and obtained by IHS Jane's show Russian forces developing two additional military facilities near Syria's Mediterranean coast, Rob Munks, editor of IHS Jane's Intelligence Review, said on Tuesday.

Musk said the previously undisclosed work was taking place at a weapons storage facility and military base north of Latakia, suggesting Russia is preparing to deploy troops to both locations.

Russia has been dramatically increasing its forces at an air base south of Latakia, a stronghold of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, including positioning combat planes and helicopters as well as tanks and accommodation blocks....
  aljazeera.com
22/9/16