Raqqa: Air strikes 'kill 18 civilians' in ISIS stronghold
At least 18 civilians have been killed in the ISIS-capital of Raqqa, Syria, according to local activists.
The monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said dozens more were injured in raids on Tuesday night. The British-based group said it was not able to verify who had carried out the strikes although another group said Russian warplanes were to blame, according to the BBC.
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Six children were among the dead, the SOHR said as it warned the number was likely to rise due to dozens of injured civilians being in a critical condition. Another activist group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), listed the names of the 18 dead and said 28 others were wounded.
The strikes came after Russian-backed government forces were dealt a blow by ISIS in fighting around the town of Tabqa, 40km west of Raqqa. Two days of intense clashes forced the Assad-army back in a setback to the campaign to recapture the Syrian city. The ISIS controlled Amaq news agency released a video that purportedly showed jihadis in control of the Thawra oil fields after Assad's army had recaptured them on Sunday.
ISIS militants face a two-pronged attack in Raqqa and neighbouring Aleppo from both the Russian-backed Syrian forces and the US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters.
Meanwhile Assad has asked his electricity minister Emad Khamis to form a new government, according to state media agency SANA. No details were given on why Khamis would replace Wael al-Halaki as prime minister, or whether Halaki would be included in the new administration or had left government. Halaki himself replaced a prime minister who defected to the opposition.