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| Islamic State crisis: Air strikes target Syria stronghold | Islamic State crisis: Air strikes target Syria stronghold |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The US-led coalition against the Islamic State group says it has carried out a series of air strikes in Syria on its main stronghold, Raqqa. | The US-led coalition against the Islamic State group says it has carried out a series of air strikes in Syria on its main stronghold, Raqqa. |
| The city is seen by the militants as the capital of the "caliphate" they declared in Syria and Iraq in 2014. | The city is seen by the militants as the capital of the "caliphate" they declared in Syria and Iraq in 2014. |
| The US military described the 16 strikes as one of the largest assaults carried out in Syria so far. | The US military described the 16 strikes as one of the largest assaults carried out in Syria so far. |
| The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 23 IS members were killed in the attack. | |
| The London-based monitoring group also said a US drone strike on a Raqqa school on Saturday killed six civilians, including a child. | |
| US military spokesman Lt Col Thomas Gilleran said: "The significant air strikes tonight were executed to deny Daesh [IS] the ability to move military capabilities throughout Syria and into Iraq." | US military spokesman Lt Col Thomas Gilleran said: "The significant air strikes tonight were executed to deny Daesh [IS] the ability to move military capabilities throughout Syria and into Iraq." |
| The raids follow the release of a video, apparently by IS, showing 25 men being shot dead in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. | The raids follow the release of a video, apparently by IS, showing 25 men being shot dead in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. |
| Stills from the video showed the killers appeared to be young teenagers. | Stills from the video showed the killers appeared to be young teenagers. |
| What difference could Syria IS strikes make? | What difference could Syria IS strikes make? |
| Battle for Iraq and Syria in maps | Battle for Iraq and Syria in maps |
| Elsewhere in Syria, government forces are reported to have entered the town of Zabadani, as they attempt to retake it from non-IS Sunni Muslim rebels. | Elsewhere in Syria, government forces are reported to have entered the town of Zabadani, as they attempt to retake it from non-IS Sunni Muslim rebels. |
| The Syrian troops (loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad) are being supported by the Lebanese Shia Muslim militant group, Hezbollah. | The Syrian troops (loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad) are being supported by the Lebanese Shia Muslim militant group, Hezbollah. |
| Zabadani is close to Syria's border with Lebanon. | Zabadani is close to Syria's border with Lebanon. |
| The BBC's correspondent in Beirut, Jim Muir, says that the Syrian regime is determined to regain control of the strategic town once and for all, as is Hezbollah. | |
| It wants to be sure that Shia communities on the Lebanese side of the border will be safe from attack by the Syrian rebels, who are mainly Sunnis, our correspondent says. | |
| In this area they are led by the Nusra Front, an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Syria. |