Russian warplanes have destroyed an Islamic State command centre in Syria, according to Moscow's Defence Ministry.

The Sukhoi-34 jets also targeted a training camp - obliterating infrastructure which the ministry claims was being used to prepare "terrorists".

Moscow claimed it has carried out 18 attacks in Syria since Thursday night, with 12 of them hitting Islamic State targets.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, one Russian airstrike has killed at least 12 IS militants in Raqqa province.

Earlier, the group had reported that warplanes, believed to be Russian, had also targeted Qaryatain overnight - a town which lies about 80 miles northeast of Damascus.

Russian jets have mainly been bombing central and southwestern parts of Syria. Idlib has seen the brunt of the attacks, while Aleppo and Hama have also been struck.

Idlib province is controlled by a coalition of rebel groups - including the Nusra Front, a terror group linked to al Qaeda.

It comes as President Vladimir Putin prepares to discuss Russia's involvement in Syria's civil war with his German and French counterparts in one-on-one meetings.

On Thursday, the US accused Russia of "indiscriminate" bombing against the Syrian opposition, but the Kremlin said its aim is the same as that of America: to target terrorist groups.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has admitted IS is not his military's only target, as other anti-Assad groups will also be pursued.

"If it looks like a terrorist, if it walks like a terrorist, if it acts like a terrorist, if it fights like a terrorist, it's a terrorist," he told reporters at the UN General Assembly in New York.

The Kremlin has denied reports that some of its strikes earlier in the week had killed at least 36 civilians, including five children.

Russia, which sees the regime of Bashar al Assad as a strategic ally in the Middle East, began strikes after a request from the government in Damascus.

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