Apparent US coalition raids kill 32 IS fighters in Syria: monitor By AFP

PHOTO: www.worldbulletin.net

At least 32 Islamic State group fighters were killed

on Sunday in apparent US-led coalition air strikes

on the group’s Syrian stronghold of Raqa

province, a monitor said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian

Observatory for Human Rights, said that more

than 40 IS jihadists were also wounded “in a

series of around 15 strikes on IS bases by planes

believed to be from the US-led coalition”.

He said the wave of raids hit IS bases to the

north, east and southeast of Raqa city, which is

the group’s de facto Syrian headquarters.

Abdel Rahman said the casualty figures were

collected from a single hospital and the final toll

from the air strikes could rise.

The US-led coalition has been carrying out strikes

against IS in Syria since last September,

expanding a campaign that began with raids in

neighbouring Iraq.

IS controls large stretches of territory in the two

countries, which it describes as an Islamic

“caliphate”.

The US-led coalition has expanded its operations

in recent days, partly in response to the deadly

attacks in Paris claimed by IS.

Britain voted on Wednesday to join the

coalition’s strikes in Syria, after a heated debate

in the country’s parliament and with the staunch

backing of Prime Minister David Cameron.

And German lawmakers on Friday approved

plans to join the military action against the group

in Syria.

Raqa is frequently the target of air strikes by the

US-led coalition, as well as the Syrian air force

and Russian warplanes that began an air

campaign in Syria in late September.