17 Ramadan shoppers slain in Syrian, Russian air attacks

Civil defence members and civilians search for survivors at a site hit by an airstrike in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Marjeh neighborhood, Syria on Monday. (REUTERS)

BEIRUT: Seventeen civilians including eight children were killed in Syrian and Russian airstrikes on a market in eastern Syria on Monday, the first day of Ramadan.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes on Al-Shaara, a town held by the Daesh group in Deir Ezzor province, were suspected to have been carried out by either Russian or Syrian government planes.
The death toll is likely to rise due to the serious condition of some of the wounded, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Residents from nearby villages typically flock to the Al-Shaara market to do their shopping, Abdel Rahman said.
Heavy airstrikes hit Daesh-held areas in and outside the divided city of Deir Ezzor from early Monday, he said.
The Observatory relies on a network of sources inside Syria to gather its information on the five-year-old conflict, which has killed more than 280,000 people and displaced millions. It says it determines whether strikes were carried out by Syrian, Russian or US-led coalition aircraft based on the location of the raids, flight patterns and the types of planes and munitions involved.
Regime airstrikes killed at least 15 civilians in the Daesh-held area of Boleel outside Deir Ezzor city on Friday, according to the monitor.