BEIRUT (AP) - An airstrike on a village held by the Islamic State group in the country’s east on Friday killed at least 10 people including four children as the offensive on the last area held by the extremists in Syria intensifies, Syria’s state news agency and activists said.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have recently intensified their offensive in the last area held by IS in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour under the cover of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition. Hundreds have been killed in the fighting over the past three months.
State-run news agency SANA said the airstrike on the village of Kishkiyeh was carried out by the U.S.-led coalition, reporting it killed 10 civilians, including four children.
The DeirEzzor 24 activist collective said 11 people were killed, including two women and four children in the airstrike on the village. It also blamed the U.S.-led coalition.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor with activists on the ground in Syria, said that more than 12,000 people have fled the IS-held pocket in recent weeks, adding that there are divisions among the extremists over whether to surrender or continue fighting. It said some 500 IS fighters fled among the civilians, but were later detained by SDF fighters.
The Observatory said some 1,000 people have fled since Wednesday from the IS-held pocket into areas controlled by the U.S.-backed SDF.
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