US-led coalition strikes kill civilians, IS militants in Syria: Monitor

Damascus: The forces of the US-led coalition bombarded the Islamic State (IS)-held farms in Syria’s eastern Euphrates region, killing 42 people, including 13 civilians, a war monitor reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday the overnight shelling from the US-run base in al-Omal oil field targeted farms controlled by the IS group in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour province.

The death toll could likely rise due to the number of critically wounded people, reported Xinhua news agency.

The shelling comes as the IS group has lost all villages and towns in the eastern Euphrates region and is now controlling a few farms in that area.

The Observatory said that around 1,250 IS militants have been killed since the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) launched a wide-scale offensive to defeat IS in the eastern Euphrates region last September.

[source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link]