RAQQA, Syria
The U.S.-led coalition forces conducted 30 airstrikes in Syria’s northern province of Raqqa, which is under the control of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
According to the Syrian Revolution General Commission, the airstrikes targeted an industrial zone in Raqqa -- about 160 kilometers east of Aleppo -- one of ISIL’s strongholds in the country. The commission did not give any information about causalities.
Meanwhile, at least ten people were killed and tens of others were injured in the airstrikes carried out by the Syrian army in Raqqa, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The city and its surroundings have remained under the helm of ISIL group for months. The militant is group is active in Syria’s eastern and northern regions, and it is fighting against the main opposition Free Syrian Army in a bid to establish its own sovereign state while mostly avoiding confrontation with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
ISIL also controls of large swathes of territory in Iraq.
The U.S. is leading an international coalition, which includes France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, and has carried out numerous airstrikes against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
According to the U.N., an estimated 1.8 million citizens have been internally displaced this year throughout Iraq.
More than 190,000 people have been killed in the Syrian war, according to the latest UN figures published in August.
www.aa.com.tr/en
