US-led airstrikes kill 78 civilians in Raqqa

The US-led coalition has killed 78 civilians in Syria's de facto capital of the Islamic State in Raqqa city over the last two days, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.

The airstrikes targeted residential areas in Raqqa, the latest in a string of intensified air raids the US-led coalition has been carrying out against the IS-held areas in Raqqa, Xinhua reported.

Tens of civilians are being killed on a daily basis as a result of the attacks, with the Syrian state media reporting civilian casualties daily.

The US has been heavily backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their push to capture Raqqa from the IS.

The heavy support enabled the SDF to capture 55 percent of Raqqa city following a two-month battle.

But the deaths of civilians on a daily basis pushed the Syrian government to condemn the U.S.-led coalition and its "crimes" in Raqqa, urging the UN to dissolve the coalition.

While the SDF is advancing inside Raqqa, the Syrian army and tribal forces are advancing against the extremists in the countryside of Raqqa, coming close to the last IS-held city in eastern Raqqa countryside.

The army and allied troops have already clawed back the western and southern countryside of Raqqa.

--IANS

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