A Russian cruise missile launched as part of a failed military exercise fell on a residential building on Tuesday, the defence ministry said, adding that no one was hurt.

The missile, which was being tested, "deviated from its trajectory and fell close to the little town of Nyonoksa", nearly 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) north of Moscow, the ministry said in a statement to AFP.

Investigators are probing the incident.

While there were no casualties, the missile crash did start a fire, damaging all four flats in a two-storey building in the town, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity and local media reports cited by TASS news agency.

An experimental surface-to-air missile in April crashed on launch in the same northern region of Arkhangelsk.

France uses first cruise missiles against Islamic State: government
Paris (AFP) Dec 15, 2015 –

The French air force used its first cruise missiles against Islamic State group targets in Iraq on Tuesday, the defence ministry said.

"Launched from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, the raid was made up of a dozen fighter planes equipped with cruise missiles and bombs," the French ministry said in a statement.

The jets targeted buildings in the Al-Qaim area of western Iraq, a civilian neighbourhood that also serves as "a training centre and logistical depot," the ministry said.

The Scalp cruise missiles, which are guided by their own onboard computers, travel over longer distances and with greater precision than normal bombs, which the French ministry claimed was particularly useful in civilian areas.

France, which has been involved in the US-led coalition air strikes in Iraq since September 2014, expanded its strikes to Syria 12 months later.

French President Francois Hollande declared his country at war with the Islamic State group, which controls around a third of Iraq and half of Syria, after IS carried out attacks in Paris last month that killed 130 people.

France sent its aircraft carrier to the region, more than tripling its contingent of fighter jets engaged in strikes against IS, although its operations remain limited because of a lack of clear targets and intelligence on the ground.