Syrian air raids on jihadist-held town kill 23 civilians: monitor

BEIRUT - Agence France-Presse

People walk past a building that was reportedly targeted by the US-led coalition, in the ISIL controlled Syrian city of Raqqa on November 11, 2014. AFP Photo

Syrian regime air raids on Raqa city, which the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has proclaimed as its capital, killed at least 23 civilians on Nov. 25, a monitoring group said.
      
"At least 23 civilians, including three children, were killed in a string of air strikes" against the northern city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that dozens of others were wounded.
      
"Most of the casualties were caused by two consecutive air strikes targeting the city's industrial area," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
      
"The first strike came, residents rushed to rescue the wounded, and then the second raid took place," said Abdel Rahman, whose Britain-based group has multiple sources on the ground across Syria.
      
The ISIL emerged in Syria's war in spring 2013.
      
It took over Raqa, the only provincial capital to fall from government control since the outbreak of a 2011 revolt, and turned it into its bastion.
      
The government has launched frequent air strikes against Raqa and other ISIL positions in northern and eastern Syria, but activists say most of the casualties have been civilians.