U.S.-led airstrikes kill 978 civilians in Syria’s Raqqa within 3 months

Damascus – A total of 978 civilians have been killed over the past three months by U.S.-led airstrikes on Syria’s northern city of Raqqa, a monitor group reported on Wednesday.

The death toll includes 234 children and 163 women, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Casualties have been increasing in the past three months when the U.S.-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an offensive to dislodge the Islamic State (IS) from their de facto capital in Raqqa.

Additionally, 118 civilians have been killed by landmines planted by IS while attempting to flee Raqqa, said the London-based watchdog group.

The SDF, with the heavy backing of the U.S.-led coalition, has captured over 60 percent of Raqqa amid expectations that the entire city will be taken by the end of October.