Hindustan Times (Amritsar)

Syria: US-led raid on school kills 33

- letters@hindustant­imes.com

DAMASCUS: At least 33 people were killed in a US-led coalition strike on a school used as a centre for displaced people near a militant-held Syrian town, a monitor said on Wednesday.

The Syrian Observator­y for Human Rights said the strike south of Al-Mansoura, a town held by the Islamic State group in the northern province of Raqa, “took place in the early hours of Tuesday.”

“We can now confirm that 33 people were killed, and they were displaced civilians from Raqa, Aleppo and Homs,” said Observator­y head Rami Abdel Rahman. “They’re still pulling bodies out of the rubble until now. Only two people were pulled out alive,” Abdel Rahman told AFP. The monitor -- which relies on a

They’re still pulling bodies out of the rubble. Only two people were pulled out alive RAMI ABDEL RAHMAN, Syrian Observator­y for Human Rights head

network of sources inside Syria for its informatio­n -- says it determines what planes carried out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved.

“Raqa is Being Slaughtere­d Silently,” an activist group that publishes news from IS-held territory in Syria, also reported the raids.

The US-led coalition has been bombing IS in Syria since 2014 and is backing an offensive to defeat the group in Raqa city, the de facto heart of the group’s so-called “Islamic caliphate”.

 ?? AP ?? Fighters of Syrian militant group Ahrar alSham celebrate after a minor victory over Syrian government forces in Damascus.
AP Fighters of Syrian militant group Ahrar alSham celebrate after a minor victory over Syrian government forces in Damascus.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India