1,465 IS militants killed in five months by coalition in Syria

Beirut, Feb 23 (IANS/EFE) At least 1,465 members of the Islamic State (IS) Sunni radical group have been killed in five months of airstrikes by the US-led international coalition in Syria, according to data released Monday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

According to the SOHR, most of the dead were foreign fighters and were killed in the coalition's aircraft raids and missile strikes that targeted IS positions in the provinces of al-Raqqa, al-Hasakah, and Deir al-Zur in the northeast of the country, Homs and Hama in the centre, and Aleppo in the north.

The coalition operations also killed 62 Syrian civilians, including eight children and five women.

In addition, at least 73 members of the Nusra Front, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, died in the airstrikes in the western suburbs of Aleppo and eastern suburbs of Idleb.

The London-based NGO said the exact toll could be higher because of the IS's reluctance to admit casualties and the difficulty of access to certain areas in Syria.

The coalition began its air operations in Syria in late September, a month after airstrikes began targeting the IS in Iraq.

--IANS/EFE

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