U.S.-led coalition air strikes killed a family of five members in Raqqa, backing Kurdish –led forces in the offensive to liberate the city from the Islamic State, local monitor said Wednesday.
Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently said the US strikes hit the southern countryside of Raqqa, killing a father, mother and their three children in Kisrat Sheikh Jomaa village.
On Tuesday, 5 people in Seif la-Dawla neighborhood and two more were fleeing the city were also killed, topping the death toll to 135 since the battle for Raqa city was launched on June 6, ISIS-run news agency and local activists said.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached the walls of the Old City from the eastern suburbs. It is also pushing into Raqqa from the west and the north, the militia spokesman said.
The powerfull alliance of Kurds and Arabs took neighborhood of Roumaniya, Sinaa, al-Mashlab and parts of al-Sebahiya. As well they took the villages of al-Dhaher and al-Sihl al-Gharbi in the western countryside.
Meanwhile, The New York-based Human Rights Watch has urged the U.S.-led coalition battling to capture ISIS de facto capital of Raqqa to make the protection of civilians its priority in the campaign.
The watchdog said in a statement released on Tuesday that the United States and the local partner forces on the ground must respect human rights and rights of everyone caught up in the battle.
It also urged the U.S. to investigate airstrikes that have allegedly targeted civilians, respect detainee rights, provide safe passage for displaced and intensify efforts to clear land mines.
In relevant development, the regime army has made a sudden advance against Islamic State in the desert area west of Raqqa, a military media unit run by its ally Hezbollah said on Tuesday.
Syria's vast deserts have become the main theater of war in recent weeks as rival forces race to capture ground from the jihadist group, which is slowly retreating on several fronts.
The area between Ithriya and Tabqa, west of Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital Raqqa, is important for the army since it can be used to attack regime-held towns and supply routes.
According to the Hezbollah military media unit, the army has punched southwards to the Ithriya-Tabqa highway, a distance of about 20 miles (32 km) from its positions south of Maskaneh.
The road was used by Islamic State to attack positions along the regime's main supply route to Aleppo near Ithriya, and, if fully captured, would help the army advance into the desert.
It captured the villages of Rajm Askar, Bir Inbaj, Zahar Um Baj, Jab Aziz, Jab al-Ghanem, Abu Sousa and Jab Abyad from the jihadist group, the media unit said
