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Thirty four civilians were killed, 15 among them children, by Russian air strikes on a village held by ISIS in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor province, on Sunday, 26 November, a monitor said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes hit the village of Al-Shafah, on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, in the early hours of Sunday.
The Observatory relies on a network of sources inside Syria, and says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns, and munitions used.
Syria's Deir Ezzor is one of the last places ISIS militants hold territory in the country, after being driven from their major strongholds, including their one-time de facto Syrian capital Raqqa city.
They have faced two separate offensives there, one led by the regime with Russian backing and the other by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.
Coming barely hours after Russia’s airstrikes, 23 civilians were killed by Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region outside the capital of Damascus.
The deaths in Damascus came despite the area falling within a so-called “de-escalation zone” put in place under a deal between government allies Russia, Iran, and rebel backer Turkey.
More than 340,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
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