The Russian military says six of its Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range bombers have successfully pounded the positions of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Syria’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr for the second day in a row.
According to a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday, the large bombers struck Daesh targets, including command centers, weapon depots and fortified areas, in the town of al-Bukamal, located in the vicinity of Syria’s common border with Iraq, where the Syrian forces are making territorial gains against the terrorists.
The Thursday strike was “carried out in order to support the Syrian government forces to crush Daesh terrorists,” added the statement, carried by the TASS news agency. The aerial raid on terrorists’ positions in the war-torn country was commenced on Wednesday, after the long-range bombers flew over Iran and Iraq to reach the designated targets near the border town.
The statement said that the bombers returned safely to their bases in Russia after destroying an unspecified number of terror targets, adding that the planes were covered with a number of Su-30SM fighter jets from the Russia-run Hmeimim air base in Syria's western coastal province of Latakia during the operation.
In September, Syrian government forces, backed up by Russia’s airstrikes, reached Dayr al-Zawr on the Euphrates River, breaking a three-year terrorist siege on the city and a nearby air base.
Russia has been conducting air raids against Daesh and other terrorist outfits in Syria at the Damascus government’s request since September 2015. Moscow has also maintained a naval group in the Mediterranean since the start of its anti-terror campaign in the war-ravaged Arab country.
Daesh has recently retreated from much of the territory under its control amid sweeping advances by Syrian army soldiers and allied fighters on the battlefield.