Airstrikes by the international anti-ISIS coalition on Raqqa city killed at least 12 civilians and injured 12 others on Tuesday, local activists said.
Mohammed al-Khader, director of Sawt & Soura media campaign, told Smart News Network that “the death toll is likely to rise as many victims are still buried under the rubble of the building that was targeted by the international coalition jets in the Badou district in Raqqa city.”
Al-Khader indicated that the ISIS-held parts of the city are being subjected to constant rocket and artillery shelling by militias of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as well as to airstrikes by the international coalition forces.
Seventeen civilians were killed and dozens more were wounded in airstrikes by the international coalition and artillery shelling by SDF militias on the ISIS-held parts of Raqqa on Sunday.
In a report released on September 5, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that a total of 772 civilians were killed across Syria in August. The victims included 285 civilians who were killed in airstrikes by the international anti-ISIS coalition forces, the Network said, adding that 97 children and 58 women are among the victims.
The UN on late August called for a humanitarian pause to allow an estimated 20,000 trapped civilians to escape from Raqqa, and urged the US-led coalition to rein in air strikes that are causing civilian casualties. Hundreds of civilians have been killed as a result of the fighting between SDF militias, who are backed by the international coalition forces, and the ISIS extremist group in Raqqa city. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)