Coalition Airstrike Kills 16 Civilians, Claims SOHR
A U.S.-led coalition airstrike near Raqqa, the de facto capital of the so-called Islamic State, has resulted in the deaths of 16 civilians, reports Al Jazeera, citing the U.K.-based monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Women and children were among those killed in the overnight attack on the village of al-Baruda, according to SOHR, while the activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently said many of those who died were displaced residents of Homs province.
A spokesman for the coalition said reports of the casualties were being assessed.
Bomber’s Sister Claims Attack Was Motivated by Revenge for Syria
The man responsible for the Manchester bombing did so out of revenge for U.S. airstrikes on Syria, according to his sister, reports the Telegraph.
Twenty-two people were killed and dozens more injured in Monday’s attack at a pop concert in the U.K. city, but Jomana Abedi said her brother was kind and loving, and that she was surprised by his actions.
“I think he saw children – Muslim children – dying everywhere, and wanted revenge,” she said. “He saw the explosives America drops on children in Syria, and he wanted revenge. Whether he got that is between him and God.”
ISIS ‘Minister of War’ Killed During Syrian Army Assault, Claims Military Source
The so-called Islamic State’s “minister of war” was killed on Wednesday during an assault in the north of the country, according to the Syrian army.
Reuters reports that government forces have claimed they killed Abu Musab al-Masri, ISIS’s military commander, during operations to reclaim territory from the fundamentalist group.
Masri was among 13 senior ISIS figures killed in Syrian army assaults east of Aleppo, according to the military source cited by Syrian state media.
ISIS expert Hisham al-Hashimi said the death of Masri, the fourth most senior figure in the organization, would be a “significant blow to the group ahead of the battle of Raqqa.”
U.S.-led coalition forces are primed for an assault on Raqqa in the coming weeks following a series of strategic victories in the area.
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