The ministry added that there were nine people from the North Caucasus among the terrorists killed.
"To the south of Deir ez-Zor in the valley of the Euphrates river a group of over 60 foreign mercenaries originating from CIS countries, Tunisia and the Arab Republic of Egypt were killed in an airstrike. A total of 12 trucks with heavy weapons were also destroyed," Konashenkov said.
The Russian Defense ministry also stressed that important Daesh commanders, hiding for a long time in Iraq were also killed during the strikes.
"According to information received via several channels and confirmed "on the ground", influential Daesh field commanders, natives of the North Caucasus: Abu Omar al-Shishani, Alyauddin Al-Shishani and Salahuddin al-Shishani, who were hiding in Iraq for a long time, were destroyed," Konashenkov said.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov stated that within the last 24 hours, Russian Aerospace forces in Syria were focused on destroying Daesh reinforcements with a large number of foreign mercenaries arriving from Iraq to the region of Abu Kamal along the Syrian-Iraqi border.
"After additional reconnaissance and confirmation of the objectives by the Russian command in Syria, we planned an operation to destroy Daesh command posts, manpower and armored vehicles of in this area by the missile and airstrikes… In the area of the city of Al Mayadin, we destroyed a terrorist command post and up to 80 militants, including 9 natives from the North Caucasus. In the same place, we destroyed 18 off-road vehicles with large-caliber weapons and three ammunition depots," Konashenkov said.
According to Konashenkov, Russian military intelligence in Syria within a week revealed areas of their concentration and command posts near the city of Abu Kamal, as well as routes to the city of Al Mayadin and further to the southern outskirts of the left-bank part of the city of Deir ez-Zor.
The day before, Russian Foreign Ministry official stated that Moscow was standing ready for full-scale cooperation on taking down terrorism, as it was in the interests of not only Russia, but the whole world. However, he added that such cooperation has not been established so far.
Several days before the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a Russian airstrike in Syria's the Idlib left al-Nusra Front leader in coma and eliminated 49 other terrorists. The operation came as the Russian foreign minister said that Moscow would support armed groups fighting against al-Nusra Front in the war-torn country.
