Russia intensifies air campaign against ISIL

Russia says it has stepped up its air campaign against Islamic state militants in Syria. The confirmation came from Defense Ministry spokesperson Major-General Igor Konashenkov on Saturday.

Konashenkov says Russia had flown 64 sorties hitting 55 targets in a 24-hour period. The targets include command and control centers, weapons depots, and training bases, located in the Syrian provinces of Raqqa, Hama, Damascus and Aleppo. Konashenkov says after days of strikes, morale is low among the extremist militants.

Syria's Ambassador to Russia, Riyad Haddad, says the Russian air campaign has been effective. He says it's destroyed about 40 percent of infrastructure of the extremist group in only one week. Haddad says this outperforms the operations by the US coalition.