Russia boosts air campaign to help recapture key Syrian city

Russia said it has intensified its air campaign in Syria to help President Bashar Assad's forces drive Islamic State militants from Deir el-Zour, a major stronghold for the group, killing an estimated 800 militants across the country this month alone.

Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi said in Moscow that Russian jets are now making 60 to 70 flights a day to target militants heading from other areas to join the fight in the eastern



city. 

He says Syrian troops are meanwhile advancing from three directions to encircle Deir el-Zour. Rudskoi said militants fleeing US-backed offensives in the Iraqi city of Mosul and the Syrian city of Raqqa have poured into Deir el-Zour in recent months.

Russia has waged an air campaign in Syria since September 2015 aimed at helping Assad's forces defeat IS as well as Syrian rebel groups.