Syria strike toll rises to 52 pro-regime fighters, mostly Iraqi: monitor

The death toll in an overnight bombing raid on pro-regime forces in eastern Syria has risen to 52 loyalist fighters, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said today.

"Among them are at least 30 Iraqi fighters and 16 Syrians, including soldiers and members of loyalist militias," the monitor's chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP, adding that the remaining six fighters were not immediately identifiable.

Syrian state media blamed the strike on the US-led coalition, which denied involvement.