In one of the largest missions of the US-led bombing campaign against ISIL militants in Iraq and Syria, a series of have hit at least 30 targets around the Syrian city of Raqqa, where the group has established a de facto capital, a monitor reported Sunday.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the first strikes were launched just before midnight on Saturday and hit several targets along the northern outskirts of Raqqa. Strikes also hit Division 17, a base which the group captured from the Syrian army earlier this year.
The monitor reported casualties, but could not provide an immediate toll.
The US-led air campaign against ISIL targets was launched in late Semtember and has killed at least 963 people so far — including 838 militants from ISIL and 72 from al-Qaeda's Syrian wing, Nusra Front. The Observatory also counts 52 civilian death and one Islamist rebel.
Meanwhile, Syrian forces have also pelted Raqqa with airstrikes, killing large numbers of civilians. One such attack on Saturday reported by the Observatory killed at least seven of the city's civilians, while another on Wedneaday killed at least 95.
