Assad air raids on last IS pocket in south Syria kill 26 civilians — monitor

Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 11 children among those killed in day-long strikes by regime and allied Russian aircraft

By AFP 21 July 2018, 2:33 am Edit
A picture taken on July 19, 2018 from the Golan Heights shows smoke rising in an area where Russian-backed government forces in Syria have been carrying air strikes near the village of al-Rafid in the southern Syrian province of Quneitra. (AFP/ JALAA MAREY)
A picture taken on July 19, 2018 from the Golan Heights shows smoke rising in an area where Russian-backed government forces in Syria have been carrying air strikes near the village of al-Rafid in the southern Syrian province of Quneitra. (AFP/ JALAA MAREY)

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Twenty-six civilians were killed in air strikes Friday on areas controlled by the Islamic State jihadist group in southern Syria’s Daraa province, a war monitor said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 11 children were among those killed in day-long strikes by regime and allied Russian aircraft on the last IS-held pocket in Daraa.

The Observatory said that hundreds of air raids and barrel bombs struck several towns controlled by a local IS branch known as Jaish Khaled bin Walid.

The bombing caused severe damage to infrastructure, and “whole neighborhoods were destroyed”, the monitor said.

The Syrian regime and its allies are currently looking to retake full control of Daraa on the border with Jordan and Israel’s Golan Heights after forcing rebel groups to sue for peace following a bloody offensive.

Syria’s conflict has killed more than 350,000 people since it began in 2011 with a brutal government crackdown on protesters.

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