Russia intensifies bombing campaign against militants in Syria

Russian officials say they have stepped up its bombing campaign against militants in Syria.

Some local observers said several of the air strikes had hit areas in western Syria where the terror group so-called Islamic State has little presence.

US and Russian Defence officials from the United States and Russia held a 90-minute video conference call on Saturday to discuss safe flight operations over Syria, according to the Pentagon.

Already, at least one U.S. warplane has had to change its route to avoid a close encounter with Russian planes, the Pentagon has said.

Russian news agencies reported a defence ministry representative as saying Russia had intensified its campaign in the last 24 hours, with 64 sorties hitting 55 targets.