Russia, Turkey conduct first joint air operation against Daesh

On Wednesday, Russia’s Aerospace Force and Turkey’s Air Force are conducting the first joint air operation against the Daesh terror group on the outskirts of the al-Bab town in the Aleppo province, Head of the Main Operations Department of Russia’s General Staff Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy said, TASS reports.

"The air operation, agreed on with the Syrian government, involves nine warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Force, including four Sukhoi Su-24M, four Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft and one Sukhoi Su-34 bomber, as well as four F-16 and four F-4 fighters of the Turkey’s Air Force. A total of 36 targets are planned to be hit," he said.

According to Rudskoi, all the targets have been previously fixed by the two countries’ General Staff and their air force units command. "In the past two days, a reconnaissance mission involving unmanned aircraft and cosmic reconnaissance equipment was carried out in order to help fix the targets," Rudskoi elaborated.

"The joint airstrikes against the Daesh facilities, delivered by Russia and Turkey, have already proven highly effective," he noted.