US-led coalition jets pound ISIL stronghold in Syria

BEIRUT - The Associated Press

Smoke rises after what activists said were four air strikes by forces loyal to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad in Raqqa. REUTERS Photo

U.S.-led coalition warplanes carried out more than a dozen airstrikes overnight in and around the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants' de facto capital in northeastern Syria, three activist groups said Jan. 2.

The air raids on the outskirts of Raqqa were the heaviest coalition strikes on the city along the Euphrates River since ISIL militants captured a Jordanian pilot after his F-16 jet went down near the city on Dec. 24.

The anti-ISILactivist group called Raqqa is Silently Being Slaughtered reported on Jan. 2 at least 13 coalition strikes. It said the Furoussiyeh area and the Division 17 military base were among the targets hit.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist collective also confirmed the air raids.