1st LD: IS militants kill 24 civilians in northern Syria

The Islamic State (IS) group killed 24 civilians after capturing a town in northern Syria, a monitor group reported on Friday.

The IS militants killed the civilians over the past 24 hours, when its fighters stormed the village of Buwair, just 10 km from the contested town of Manbej, in the northern countryside of the key province of Aleppo, near Turkey.

The IS attacked Buwair and other villages, in a push to break the siege imposed by the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces rebels (SDF), which has laid a siege on the IS-held Manbej town, following an offensive that has been going on since last May.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the SDF, which is led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), succeeded to recapture the towns stormed by IS over the past 24 hours.

The U.S.-led anti-terror coalition has been backing the SDF by airstrikes in the offensive against Manbej.

On Friday, pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said a U.S.-led airstrike near Manbej killed 35 civilians, the third civilian casualty to have been caused since May, when the SDF backed the U.S.-led coalition started an offensive against Manbej.

On July 19, as many as 56 civilians were killed in Manbej by French strikes, part of the U.S.-led coalition, according to local media.

Manbej has a strategic importance to the U.S.-backed rebels due to its location near Turkey.

Capturing Manbej would deprive IS from a key stronghold near Turkey. Endit