DAMASCUS, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 105 people have been killed over the past seven days in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour as a result of U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) positions, a war monitor reported Thursday.
A total of 80 children and women were among those killed by the intense U.S.-led airstrikes that have been targeting the last IS-held pocket in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The London-based watchdog said the death toll will likely rise as people are still stuck in the rubble.
Airstrikes on the last IS-held pocket on the eastern bank of Euphrates River have recently intensified as the U.S-backed Kurdish militias were planning a second wave of attacks on the IS after a failed attempt on Sept. 10.
On Saturday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry renewed in a statement its call on the UN to form "an independent international mechanism" to investigate the "crimes of the Washington coalition" and punish the perpetrators.
The Syrian government has long questioned the intention of the U.S.-led operations in this oil-rich area inside Syria.
