The sensational claim comes from Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy, a Russian defence chief, who said more than 150 cities and villages had been liberated from terrorists in Syria in recent weeks.
He said: ”A total of 311 sorties have been made over the first 10 days of 2016 during which strikes were delivered at 1,097 facilities.”
The jets hit oil facilities, infrastructure and equipment used by militants in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Deir ez-Zor, Hasakeh, Deraa and Raqqa.
Mr Rudskoy added: "In December 2015, militants were driven from 134 cities and towns and from 19 settlements, with more in the first days of the new year.”
The evil of ISIS
Fri, November 13, 2015
IS fighters in Iraq and Syria
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Abdelhamid Abaaoud posing with a Koran and the ISIS flag at an undisclosed location [EPA]
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Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud who is said to be the mastermind behind the Paris attacks on Friday 13 November 2015 [AP]
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Hasna Aitboulahcen, the suicide bomber who blew herself up during the Paris siege [IG]
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Belgian jihadists Redouane Hagaoui and Tarik Jadaoun aka Abu Hamza Belgiki, who were killed by anti-terror police in Verviers, Belgium [Twitter]
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Jihadi John has reportedly been killed after a US air strike [REUTERS]
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Still image from undated video of a masked Islamic State militant speaking next to man purported to be U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff at an unknown location [Reuters]
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A masked man speaking in what is believed to be a North American accent in a video that Islamic State militants released in September 2014 is pictured in this still frame from video [REUTERS]
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A masked child holds a knife and a doll [IG]
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IS Militants [IG]
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IS Militants [IG]
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IS Militants [IG]
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Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary who is suspected to be Jihadi John [IG]
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A child holding a gun with IS militanats [ENTERPRISE NEWS AND PICTURES]
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Islamic State In Iraq And The Levant Propaganda Pictures - Iraq [ABACA/Press Association Images]
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Islamic State In Iraq And The Levant Propaganda Pictures - Iraq [ABACA/Press Association Images]
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Fighters from the Islamic State group sit on a tank during a parade in Raqqa, Syria [AP]
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This image posted on a militant website appears to show militants from the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leading away captured Iraqi soldiers dressed in plain clothes after taking over a base in Tikrit, Iraq [AP]
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Islamic State In Iraq And The Levant Propaganda Pictures - Iraq [ABACA/Press Association Images]
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Syrian rebel fighters court case [PA]
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An image grab taken from a propaganda vi [AFP/Getty Images]
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An image made available by Jihadist medi [AFP/Getty Images]
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Abu Muthanna al-Yemeni (right), believed to be Nasser Muthana, a 20-year-old man from Cardiff, Wales, speaking in an online video titled "There is no life without Jihad" from an undisclosed location. [AFP/Getty Images]
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Fighters from the al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching in Raqqa, Syria. [AP]
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An image uploaded on a jihadist website allegedly shows militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province [AFP/Getty Images]
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An image grab taken from a propaganda vi [AFP/Getty Images]
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An image grab taken from a propaganda vi [AFP/Getty Images]
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An image grab taken from a propaganda vi [AFP/Getty Images]
Russia’s attack squad comprises of more than 50 aircraft and helicopters, including the Sukhoi Su-34 and Su-24M bombers, Su-25 and Su-30SM fighters and Mil Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters.
The Kremlin approved bombing raids in Syria on September 30 after President Bashar al-Assad requested help in defeating ISIS - also known as Daesh.
But since then, Russia has been accused of targeting moderate rebels who are receiving backing from the West.
Separately, Mr Putin has told a German magazine he wants to work more closely with Europe and the US to defeat terrorism.
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Destruction wrought by the bombing raids
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Aleppo has been largely destroyed by Russian bombs
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Airstrikes are pounding up to 100 terrorist positions every day
In a sign of thawing relations between Moscow and London, Berlin and Washington, he said: "We are faced with common threats, and we still want all countries, both in Europe and the whole world, to join their efforts to combat these threats.”
The highly-accurate rockets, which cost £100,000 each, have already been deployed to deadly effect in Iraq.
But the Prime Minister’s spokeswoman confirmed this morning that the RAF had carried out several air strikes against ISIS militants in Syria on Sunday, deploying the Brimstone for the first time there.
The missiles, which are designed to hit fast-moving targets and have already been used by Britain's Tornado jets in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq, should bolster the fight against ISIS by delivering surgical strikes that minimise civilian casualties.
On Monday morning, an RAF Reaper flew the 1,000th drone sortie against ISIS since the beginning of operations in October 2014, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
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