Over 550 killed in US-led airstrikes in Syria

Damascus, Oct 23 (IANS/EFE) At least 553 people have died over the past month in airstikes launched by the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria, a rights group reported Thursday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) - a London-based NGO - has documented the number of deaths since the beginning of the air campaing Sep 23 until Wednesday night.

IS lost 464 of its fighters, mostly foreigners, the SOHR said.

In the strikes, the warplanes targeted IS combatants, barracks and oilfields in the Syrian provinces of Homs, Hama, Aleppo, al-Hasakah, Deir al-Zur and Raqqa.

The international coalition, which has been bombarding the positions of the IS jihadis for a month in Syria and Iraq, is backed by several Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

--IANS/EFE

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