35 Syrians killed in Russian raids on Daesh-held town

By Adnan al-Hussein

DEIR EZ-ZOUR, Syria (AA) - At least 35 civilians were killed and 70 others injured Saturday in Russian airstrikes on a Daesh-held town in eastern Syria, according to local sources.

“At least 35 civilians were killed when Russian warplanes struck a mosque and its surroundings in al-Quriya town,” a local source told Anadolu Agency, requesting anonymity due to concerns for his safety.

He said Russian fighter jets pounded the area again with cluster bombs when civilians gathered to rescue the victims.

The source predicts the death toll to rise as many of the victims are in a serious condition.

Al-Quriya town fell to the Daesh terrorist group in 2014.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests - which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings - with unexpected ferocity and disproportionate force.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed - and more than 10 million displaced - throughout the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, an NGO, however, has put the death toll from the five-year conflict at as high as 470,000.

*Anadolu Agency Correspondent Mohamed Sabry contributed to this report from Egypt