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US, allies conduct air strikes in Syria, Iraq
United States-led forces targeted Islamic State militants in Syria with three air strikes from Saturday to Sunday morning and conducted 17 strikes against the group in Iraq, the US military said.
United States-led forces targeted Islamic State militants in Syria with three air strikes from Saturday to Sunday morning and conducted 17 strikes against the group in Iraq, the US military said.
In Syria, the air strikes hit Islamic State positions near Al Hasakah, Dayr Az Zawr and Kobani, according to a US military statement on Sunday.
In Iraq, five strikes hit Islamic State positions near Fallujah. The strikes also hit Islamic State positions near Al Hawayjah, Bayji, Mosul and Ramadi, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Syrian government air strikes on a marketplace Sunday killed at least 40 civilians, including women and children, in a rebel-held town near the border with Turkey, a monitoring group said.
The strikes on Darkush came a day after rebels seized Jisr al-Shughur, another town some 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the south and in the same province of Idlib.
"At least 40 civilians were killed in regime air strikes on a market in the town of Darkush. Among the dead were nine women and eight children," said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
He had said earlier that an initial toll of 34 dead had been expected to rise "because there are dozens of people injured and many in serious condition".
Jisr al-Shughur was one of the regime's last remaining strongholds in the northwestern province, and its fall has left government-held territory elsewhere in neighbouring Latakia and Hama provinces open to new attack.
