Russia Claims Air Strikes Hit 10 ISIS Targets In Syria

MOSCOW, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Russian planes have flown 20 sorties in Syria and struck 10 Islamic State targets in the past 24 hours, the country's defense ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Russia has said it would step up its air strikes in Syria, escalating a military intervention which Moscow launched on Wednesday to weaken Islamic State militants, but which Western powers say aims to support President Bashar al-Assad.

"As a result of our air strikes on Islamic State targets, we have managed to disrupt their control system, the terrorist organization's supply lines, and also caused significant damage to the infrastructure used to prepare acts of terror," the ministry said.

It said the strikes, conducted by SU-34, SU-24M and SU-25 planes, had hit targets in the Idlib and Raqqa provinces, including a terrorist training camp and a suicide belt factory.

The strikes, which it called pinpoint, had also destroyed three ammunition stores and four Islamic State command centers, the ministry said.