| ...the established capitol of the Islamic State's caliphate... |
| Good. If y'all can do a Dresden on the place, even better. |
At least 15 jihadists and 16 civilians including three children and two women were killed. Eight of the civilian dead were from a single family.
The strikes come amid a stepped-up campaign by
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's regime targeting IS positions in north and east Syria.
Activists say such air raids often kill many civilians as well as jihadists.
| War is hell, especially for human shields. |
Among the targets on Saturday were a building housing an IS Islamic court and a training camp.
Seventeen of the dead were killed when a bakery was hit.
The Islamic State group first emerged in Syria's war in late spring 2013, when it was named the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
(ISIL).
Its horrific abuses, including near-daily public executions, have made it widely feared in areas it controls, but activists say people stay silent for fear of reprisals.
In a separate development, the Observatory said the number of people killed in a Friday air strike targeting a Syrian rebel-held area of Aleppo city in the north has risen to 15.
Insurgent areas of Aleppo have come under massive aerial bombardment since December, killing hundreds of people and prompting tens of thousands to flee to safety.
The regime has kept up its offensive despite a U.N. Security Council resolution in February condemning such strikes.
And east of Damascus, regime troops backed by Lebanese Hizbullah
...
Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as
The Resistanceand purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
fighters made another gain against rebel forces by taking the village of Hteitet Jarash, the Observatory said.
The village is near Mleiha, a former rebel bastion that fell to government control in mid-August after several months of fierce fighting and near-daily bombardment.
Hteitet Jarash is in the Eastern Ghouta area, which the army has besieged for more than a year.