US Coalition strike 'kills 20 civilians' near ISIS held Raqqa

US-backed forces pressed offensives Wednesday on the Islamic State group's strongholds in Syria and Iraq, as an air strike by the American-led coalition reportedly killed 20 civilians near the Syrian city of Raqqa.


Supported by coalition air raids, Iraqi forces have pushed into IS's Mosul stronghold and a Kurdish-Arab militia alliance has been advancing on the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital Raqqa.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a coalition strike overnight had hit the IS-held village of Al-Heisha, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Raqqa.

Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of the Britain-based monitoring group, said nine women and two children were among the 20 civilians killed and that 32 others had been wounded.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the militia alliance which Washington is supporting in the assault, denied the civilian deaths.

"There is no such thing, and any such claims are IS news," SDF spokeswoman Jihan Sheikh Ahmed told AFP.
 [i24news.tv by AFP]
9/11/16
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