France said yesterday it had carried out a second wave of strikes overnight on Islamic State targets in Syria and accused Russia of failing to target the group.

“Two Rafale jets dropped bombs on an IS training camp. The objectives were accomplished," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Europe 1 radio, adding that more attacks would follow.

As with a first wave of strikes on September 27, the attacks focused on the IS stronghold of Raqqa in northern Syria.

"We know that in Syria, in particular around Raqqa, there are training camps for foreign combattants whose mission is not to go fight for IS in the Levant but to come to France, to Europe, to carry out attacks," said Le Drian.

He said France's air strikes were complicated by the fact that IS uses human shields.

“IS organises itself in such a way that children, women and civilians are in the frontline," he said.

“The leaders hide in schools, mosques, hospitals, which makes the job of the (international) coalition difficult.”

Le Drian criticised Russia's recent involvement in the conflict, saying that “80 to 90 percent" of its air strikes in Syria were not aimed at IS, but instead at propping up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's long-term ally.

"The Russian military action in Syria over the past 10 days does not target Daesh, their main aim is (to ensure) the security of Bashar al-Assad," said Le Drian.

"We do not consider Bashar part of the solution."

France launched its first airstrike in Syria on September 27, destroying an Islamic State training camp near Deir al-Zor in the east of the country, saying at the time it was acting in "self defense".

France, which has provided weapons and logistical support to rebels linked to the Free Syrian Army in the past, has repeatedly said Assad would have to go before government troops and rebels could together defeat

Islamic State.

Meanwhile, Iran yesterday declined to confirm a claim by a US official that Russian missiles targeting rebels in Syria crashed in its territory this week.

"We don't confirm" this information, foreign ministry spokeswoman Afkham Marzieh said when asked about the claim.

The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had said the missiles crashed in Iran on Wednesday, but did not provide details about where they might have come down or whether they caused any damage.

Russia's defence ministry has flatly denied the claim.

"Any professional knows that during these operations we always fix the target before and after impact. All our cruise missiles hit their target," said ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced one of its senior commanders was killed by IS in the Aleppo region on Thursday, without revealing the exact circumstances.

A Guards statement said Hamedani had played an "important role... reinforcing the front of Islamic resistance against the terrorists" but was killed "during an advisory mission".

Germany and Spain yesterday urged Washington and Moscow to work together to help unlock a political solution to the Syrian war, after Russian air strikes there raised tensions.