Civilian death toll on rise in Daesh-held Raqqa: Group

By Halit Suleiman

RAQQA, Syria (AA) - An activist group that monitors civilian casualties in the Daesh-held Syrian city of Raqqa said Monday that 70 civilians had been killed within the past 48 hours owing to attacks by a U.S.-led air coalition and the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Speaking on Twitter with the hashtag (in Arabic) "Raqqa is being slaughtered silently", the group also asserted that two faculty buildings at Euphrates University -- located in Syria’s Daesh-held Deir ez-Zor province -- had been “completely destroyed” by coalition airstrikes on Saturday.

Last Friday, the U.S.-backed SDF, which contains numerous elements linked to the terrorist PKK/PYD group, called on Daesh militants in Raqqa to surrender by the end of the current month.

Since then, air and artillery attacks on the city -- by the U.S.-led coalition and the SDF respectively -- have intensified, resulting in scores of civilian casualties.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara