THE Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in eastern Syria this week killed dozens of people in the jihadist group's last major foothold.
The coalition could not immediately be reached for comment on the report. Syrian state media also reported dozens of deaths this week.
The Observatory said strikes beginning overnight on Wednesday in and around al-Shafa in the Deir Ezzor countryside had targeted a hospital, prison and houses used by jihadists in their pocket on the eastern bank of the Euphrates river near the Iraqi border.
The Observatory said around 40 prisoners, civilians and fighters had been killed in strikes with more wounded. The toll rose as bodies were pulled from the rubble.
Syrian state-run news agency SANA, citing local sources, said new air strikes on Friday on al-Shaéfah killed around 30, bringing the total killed this week in strikes on the Islamic State pocket to around 45.
The Syrian regime has written to the United Nations a number of times protesting casualties caused by air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State.
The U.S.-led coalition, now in a push to defeat the final remnants of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has previously said it investigates reports of civilian casualties and does all it can to avoid them.
(Also in Deir Ezzor, the powerful Kurdish YPG militia mourned 20 Arab fighters, mostly tribesmen, who were killed by Daesh (ISIS) this week.
The slain fighters were operating in the al-Arbaeen Corps in Ras al-Ayn region.
The YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) pressed to uproot Daesh militants from their last pockets near the Iraqi border in major offensive.
But the radical group, on contrary, has showed stubborn and has advanced in the SDF areas, killing and wounding dozens.
At least 60 U.S.-backed fighters were killed and Daesh took 30 more captive in Deir Ezzor, Amaq news agency said.
In a savage propaganda video, Daesh has executed four SDF fighters from the Arab tribes.
Daesh warned Arab tribesmen in eastern Syria of joining the ranks of the SDF and Kurdish militias.
Daesh has resorted to guerrilla tactics since it abandoned its goal of holding territory and creating a self-declared caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria.
Zaman Al Wasl, Reuters
Zaman Al Wasl
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