472 Civilians Dead in Month of US-Led Syria Strikes: Monitor
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - US-led coalition airstrikes on two Syrian provinces have killed 472 civilians over the past month, a monitor said Friday, more than double a previous 30-day toll.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the period between May 23 and June 23 saw the highest civilian death toll in coalition raids for a single month since they began on September 23, 2014.
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said 222 civilians, including 84 children, were killed in the largely Daesh (also known as ISIL or ISIS) militant group-held province of Deir ez-Zor.
Another 250 civilians, including 53 children, were killed in Raqqa province, where US-backed forces are trying to oust ISIL from their bastion Raqqa city, AFP reported.
He told AFP that the new deaths brought the overall civilian toll from the coalition's campaign to 1,953, including 456 children and 333 women.
The previous deadliest 30-day period was between April 23 and May 23 this year that cost 225 civilian lives.
