DAMASCUS - Damascus has received new warplanes and reconnaissance aircraft from Moscow to fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, a Syrian military source told AFP on Tuesday.

“Our air force has taken delivery of at least five fighter planes from Moscow as well as reconnaissance aircraft which allow us to identify targets with great accuracy,” the senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The source said that the aircraft had arrived on Friday at a military base in Latakia province, the traditional heartland of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Moscow has also delivered other “sophisticated military equipment to fight IS,” the official said. “These are defensive and offensive weapons including sophisticated arms that target with accuracy and precision-guided missiles,” the official said. “Russian weapons are starting to have an effect in Syria,” the official said.

“The Syrian military has started using them in the cities of Deir Ezzor and Raqa, in particular against IS positions,” the official said. Another military source in Latakia told AFP that the army had received Russian reconnaissance planes that will allow Syrian ground and air forces to accurately identify targets. “The deliveries also included radars and infra-red binoculars,” the source said.