28 Civilians Killed In Syria

At least 28 civilians have been killed in an airstrike on an Islamic State-held area in Syria’s eastern province of Deir al-Zour.

Planes hit an ice factory late on Thursday near the village of al-Soussa, in the city of al-Bu Kamal near the Iraqi border, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights said while admitting that it was not immediately known if the strike was carried out by an Iraqi plane or by the U.S.-led coalition.

The state-run Syrian News Agency (SANA) accused the U.S.-led coalition of carrying what it described as a “massacre’’ against civilians.

SANA has put the death toll at more than 30, claiming the dead are mostly women and children.

Most of the province of Deir al-Zour has been controlled by Islamic state since 2014, but the extremist group has suffered military setbacks, losing most of the ground it controlled in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

The group still maintains some posts in small areas in Syria, including in Deir al-Zour.

The U.S.-led alliance intensified strikes on Islamic State posts near the Iraqi-Syrian border in May.

On April 19, the Iraqi Air Force conducted strikes against Islamic State forces near the Syrian-Iraqi border, in coordination with the Syrian government in Damascus.