AN air strike on a Syrian village held by Daesh has killed at least 25 people, all of them civilians, according to activists.
The Deir Ezzor 24 activist group blamed Russian warplanes for the strike on Sunday on the village of Shaafa in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.
The village is near the town of Boukamal, which Syrian troops and their allies captured this month.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a higher death toll, saying 53 people were killed, including 21 children.
The Russian defence ministry said six Tu-22M3 long-range bombers scrambled from Russia and carried out an air strike on “terrorists’ objects” in Deir el-Zour.
Syria’s violence has not abated ahead of the resumption of UN peace talks in Geneva tomorrow.
The peace talks will begin as scheduled even though the government delegation might not arrive on time, a diplomat has said.
The opposition announced last week it was prepared to enter direct talks with the government without preconditions, although some opposition figures have demanded President Bashar Assad relinquish power once the country enters a transitional period.
The government has not named its delegation to the talks and the state’s team was not expected to head to Geneva as scheduled, claiming the opposition demands for Assad to leave are “hidden conditions”.
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