Airstrikes on IS-held Syrian city kill, wound dozens

PanARMENIAN.Net - Dozens of people were killed or wounded in a series of air strikes on the city of Raqqa in northern Syria on Saturday, March 19, Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, according to Reuters.

It said the dead included women and children and more than 60 people were wounded. It did not specify who had conducted the air strikes.

A cessation of hostilities in Syria took effect three weeks ago, reducing violence but not halting the fighting as peace talks take place in Geneva. The deal does not include al Qaeda or Islamic State militants, whose de facto capital in Syria is Raqqa.

An activist group called Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently said more than 40 had been killed, and that separate strikes hit areas in the north of Raqqa province.

The Observatory said 16 people were also killed in air strikes in Raqqa on Friday, Reuters reports.

Russia has been pulling out its attack aircraft after announcing a partial withdrawal from Syria, where itsair campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad has turned fighting in his favor.

However, the Observatory said Russian warplanes carried out dozens of air strikes in and around the historic city of Palmyra on Saturday.

It said 70 raids had hit the city and its immediate vicinity, with no immediate reports of casualties.

Government forces and their allies are aiming to capture Palmyra, some 200 km southwest of Raqqa and also held by Islamic State since May.