At least 95 Killed as Syrian Govt Bombs Islamic State-Held City

Syrian government airstrikes on a market, an industrial area and other areas in the Islamic State-controlled city of Raqqa have killed at least 95 people, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said today.

At least 120 people were wounded in 10 strikes on the northern city, which the militant group has declared as its capital, according to SOHR. Another group, called Raqqa is Being Silently Slaughtered, put the death toll at 115 and posted an appeal on its Facebook page from Raqqa’s national hospital seeking blood donations.

The Syrian government and the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State frequently target the city.

The al-Qaeda breakaway group has enforced strict restrictions on residents in areas straddling the Syria-Iraq border it controls. It has banned smoking and alcohol and forced women to cover themselves in baggy cloaks and killed adulterers.

Islamic State stoned two men to death in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor after claiming they were gay, SOHR reported yesterday. One of the men was 20 years old and Islamic State said his phone contained a video showing him “practicing indecent acts with males,” SOHR said. No details were given on the second man.

Syria’s conflict began in March 2011 with peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad that spiraled into a civil war and fostered the rise of Islamic militant groups including Islamic State. More than 190,000 people have been killed in the conflict.