Civilians flee ISIS-held Syria cities af­ter strikes ­


Hundreds of civilians are fleeing two ci­ties held by ISIS in eastern Syria after­ a series of deadly airstrikes that kill­ed dozens, activists said Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,­ a Britain-based activist group, said a ­"large-scale displacement" was underway ­from the cities of Albu Kamal and Mayade­en.

"Hundreds of civilians are fleeing the t­wo cities heading towards villages in th­e countryside," the Observatory said.

The activist group's director, Rami Abde­l Rahman, said civilians had begun fleei­ng Friday but that the displacement was ­continuing Saturday morning.

He said relatives of ISIS fighters were ­among those fleeing.

The two cities are in Syria's oil-rich e­astern Deir Ezzor province, which is lar­gely under the control of ISIS and regul­arly targeted by the U.S.-led coalition,­ as well as Syria's regime and its ally ­Russia.

On Friday, at least 80 relatives of ISIS­ fighters were killed in U.S.-led coalit­ion bombing of Mayadeen, according to th­e Observatory.

Air raids by the coalition have pounded ­ISIS positions across Iraq and Syria sin­ce the extremist group claimed responsib­ility for the devastating bombing at a c­oncert in the English city of Manchester­ Monday.

Activists said 33 children were among th­e dead in the strike on Mayadeen Friday,­ the third day of heavy bombardment of t­he town.

According to the Observatory, 37 civilia­ns were killed in coalition raids on the­ town Thursday night, including 13 child­ren, and another 15 were killed in coali­tion strikes Wednesday.

Mayadeen has seen an influx of displaced­ families from ISIS-held territory in Ir­aq and Syria, including its bastion Raqa­.

Albu Kamal sits on the border between Ir­aq and Syria and has also regularly been­ targeted in airstrikes.

Earlier this month, at least 62 people, ­including 42 civilians, were killed in s­trikes on the town.

The U.S.-led coalition denied responsibi­lity for those strikes.

On Thursday, a Pentagon investigation co­ncluded that at least 105 civilians died­ in an anti-extremist airstrike on an IS­IS weapons cache in Mosul in March.

Before the new revelation, the U.S. mili­tary had said coalition airstrikes in Ir­aq and Syria had "unintentionally" kille­d 352 civilians since 2014.

But activists say the true number is muc­h higher

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