BREAKING NEWS

US-led raids hit Islamic State in north, east Syria

BEIRUT - US-led forces launched air strikes on Islamic State-controlled territory in northern and eastern Syria overnight and the Syrian army continued bombing areas in the west, a group monitoring the war said on Monday.
The United States has been carrying out strikes in Iraq against the militant group since last month and in Syria since last week with the help of Arab allies. It aims to damage and destroy the bases and forces of the al-Qaida offshoot which has captured large areas of both countries.
The raids hit Islamic State in the northern Syrian town of Manbij, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers information from sources in Syria.
Manbij sits between Aleppo city in the west and the town of Kobani on the northern border with Turkey, which Islamic State has been trying to capture from Kurdish forces, forcing tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds to flee over the frontier.
Syria's army also carried out air raids in Aleppo province overnight, targeting areas east of Aleppo city with barrel bombs and other projectiles, the Observatory said. The army also carried out air strikes in Hama in western Syria.