At least 16 civilians were killed in a US-led coalition strike in the western countryside of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State extremist group in northern Syria, a monitoring group said.
The strike took place on Tuesday night on the village of al-Barouda, located 15 kilometres west of al-Raqqa, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Among those killed is a woman and her five children, the Observatory said, adding that most of the dead were refugees from al-Sukhana area, which is controlled by the jihadist group and located in the eastern countryside of Homs.
The watchdog said the death toll is likely to increase as several people wounded are in serious condition.
The Observatory said that some 225 civilians, among them 44 children, were killed by US-led strikes between April 23 and May 23.
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The US-led alliance warplanes have been heavily bombarding Islamic State positions on the rural outskirts of al-Raqqa.
In November, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arabs, started a major offensive aimed at capturing al-Raqqa, which has been under IS control since 2014.
