US-Led Coalition Airstrike Kills 23 Civilians in Syria’s Raqqa

Rasa - An airstrike by the US-led coalition killed at least 23 people, including a child, in a town near the ISIL-held city of Raqqa in Northeastern Syria.

News ID: 424910

Date: 09 November 2016 - 20:25

RNA - The strike targeted the village of al-Heesha, about 40 kilometers north of Raqqah on Wednesday, presstv reported.

Raqqa, on the Northern bank of the Euphrates River, was overrun by the ISIL terrorists in March 2013 and was proclaimed the terrorist group’s so-called headquarters the following year.

The attack is not the first US-led airstrike to leave civilian casualties.

In mid October, at least 15 civilians were killed when a US-led attack hit areas in the Daham Village near Suluk in the Northeast of Raqqa.

Since 2014, the United States has been leading a bombing campaign in Syria and neighboring Iraq with the declared objective of hitting ISIL.

In a separate development, foreign-backed militants carried out mortar attacks on the village of Hadar in Syria’s Southwestern Quneitra Province, leaving at least one civilian dead and several others injured, according to SANA.

On Wednesday Syrian forces continued targeting terrorists across the country, advancing further in Aleppo. As a military source said that army units and allied forces managed to regain control over the al-Hikma School in the 1070 Housing Project West of Aleppo.

A number of terrorists were killed or injured during the operation, the source said, without specifying how many.

The 1070 Apartments district, a strategic neighborhood on the Southwestern outskirts of Aleppo, and its surrounding hills were liberated on Tuesday.

The recapturing of the area is considered as the most significant gain by the government in Aleppo since September.

Aleppo has been divided over the past four years between government forces in the West and foreign-backed terrorists in the East, making it a frontline battleground.

Backed by Russian air cover, the Syrian army launched operations to reunite Aleppo in September.

Separately, a military source said that the Syrian forces shot down 14 spy drones operated by militants on the suburbs of the country’s southwestern city of Dara’a.

Syrian fighter jets also struck militant positions in the Eastern Ghouta in Damascus province, inflicting heavy losses on them.

Since March 2011, Syria has been gripped by a foreign-backed militancy. Parts of the country and neighboring Iraq are controlled by ISIL terrorists.

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