MOSCOW, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Russian warplanes launched 452 strikes against Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Syria in the past week, as the government troops continued their advance in the north and east of the war-torn country, the Russian military said Friday.
"Over 600 militants, 16 infantry fighting vehicles, 41 pickup trucks with large caliber machine-guns and more than 30 other vehicles have been eliminated," Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, chief of the Russian General Staff Main Operational Directorate, said at a news briefing.
He said the Syrian troops liberated 92 terrorists settlements on an area of 479 square km in the eastern part of Aleppo province in the last seven days, reaching the bank of the Euphrates River for the first time in the last four years.
After taking control of the ancient city of Palmyra, the Syrian government troops continued their offensive to the east of the city, capturing dominant heights, and extend the security zone to the north and south, Rudskoy said.
Russian and Syrian sappers had started a mine clearing operation at historical monuments of Aleppo, he added.
