<p>A wave of air strikes by government ally Russia killed at least 21 Islamic State group jihadists in the Syrian desert over the past 24 hours, a monitor said Saturday.</p>.<p>The 21 were killed in at least 130 air strikes "carried out over the past 24 hours by the Russian air force targeting the Islamic State group" in a vast area stretching from the central province of Homs to the border with Iraq, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.</p>.<p>The raids, which continued into Saturday, follow a series of IS attacks Friday on government and allied forces that killed at least eight members of a pro-Damascus militia, the Britain-based monitor said.</p>.<p>More than half of the slain jihadists were killed in strikes on the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, near the Iraqi frontier, according to the Observatory.</p>.<p>Russian raids in the desert region generally "target small groupings of IS militants as well as their vehicles", said Rami Abdul Rahman, who heads the Observatory.</p>.<p>"It is a difficult operation for the Russians because there are no fixed positions for IS fighters who are always on the move," he told AFP.</p>.<p>In recent months, the vast desert, know in Arabic as the Badia, has been the scene of increasingly frequent fighting between the jihadists and government forces backed by Russian air power.</p>.<p>The region provides a "safe haven" for jihadists planning attacks on government forces and other rivals, the United Nations said in a report published this month.</p>.<p>IS overran large parts of Syria and Iraq and proclaimed a cross-border "caliphate" in 2014, before multiple offensives in the two countries led to its territorial defeat.</p>.<p>The jihadists continue to launch attacks, mostly in the Badia.</p>.<p>IS retains some 10,000 active fighters in Iraq and Syria, although the majority are reported to be in Iraq, the UN says.</p>.<p>Since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011, more than 387,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes.</p>
<p>A wave of air strikes by government ally Russia killed at least 21 Islamic State group jihadists in the Syrian desert over the past 24 hours, a monitor said Saturday.</p>.<p>The 21 were killed in at least 130 air strikes "carried out over the past 24 hours by the Russian air force targeting the Islamic State group" in a vast area stretching from the central province of Homs to the border with Iraq, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.</p>.<p>The raids, which continued into Saturday, follow a series of IS attacks Friday on government and allied forces that killed at least eight members of a pro-Damascus militia, the Britain-based monitor said.</p>.<p>More than half of the slain jihadists were killed in strikes on the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, near the Iraqi frontier, according to the Observatory.</p>.<p>Russian raids in the desert region generally "target small groupings of IS militants as well as their vehicles", said Rami Abdul Rahman, who heads the Observatory.</p>.<p>"It is a difficult operation for the Russians because there are no fixed positions for IS fighters who are always on the move," he told AFP.</p>.<p>In recent months, the vast desert, know in Arabic as the Badia, has been the scene of increasingly frequent fighting between the jihadists and government forces backed by Russian air power.</p>.<p>The region provides a "safe haven" for jihadists planning attacks on government forces and other rivals, the United Nations said in a report published this month.</p>.<p>IS overran large parts of Syria and Iraq and proclaimed a cross-border "caliphate" in 2014, before multiple offensives in the two countries led to its territorial defeat.</p>.<p>The jihadists continue to launch attacks, mostly in the Badia.</p>.<p>IS retains some 10,000 active fighters in Iraq and Syria, although the majority are reported to be in Iraq, the UN says.</p>.<p>Since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011, more than 387,000 people have been killed and millions forced from their homes.</p>