Separate airstrikes kill at least 20 in Syrian areas, activists say

BEIRUT — An overnight airstrike likely carried out by the U.S.-led coalition struck an eastern Syrian town held by the Islamic State group, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens, opposition activists said.

Another airstrike, this one during the day, hit a rebel-held village in the northwest on Tuesday, killing a woman and nine children.

The activists said the late Monday strike on the town of Boukamal, on the Iraqi border, was similar to airstrikes carried out by the U.S.-led coalition that has been targeting ISIS in both Syria and Iraq.

Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition have killed dozens of civilians in the past several weeks as the battle against ISIS intensifies.

The ISIS-linked Aamaq news agency said the airstrike of Boukamal killed six people and wounded 15 — all of them women and children. It did not say whether any ISIS fighters were also killed.

The U.S. military’s regional command, CENTCOM, said it was aware of the reports and was looking into them.

Activists gave different casualty tolls. The Britainbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Boukamal strike killed 15 civilians, including women and children, as well as three Iraqi ISIS fighters.

ISIS used to control wide parts of Syria and Iraq, where the group declared a caliphate in 2014. Over the past year the extremists have suffered a string of defeats at the hands of Syrian and Iraqi forces.

On Tuesday in northern Syria, an airstrike on the village of Maaret Harmeh killed 10 people, activists said.