The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a U.S.-led coalition airstrike has killed dozens of civilians after it hit a school near the ISIS-held city of Raqqa. Both the observatory and local journalists say the school was being used to shelter displaced families. The U.S.-led coalition has been bombing Raqqa for months. The Pentagon has not confirmed the strike.
However, the Pentagon has announced a formal investigation into another recent U.S. airstrike, which killed at least 49 people in a rebel-held village in Aleppo province. Local journalists and monitoring groups say the dead were civilians who had gathered at a mosque to pray, while the Pentagon has claimed the strike hit an al-Qaeda meeting. In other news in Syria, rebels have launched an offensive on the government-held capital, Damascus, seizing several government positions. The offensive signals the 7-year-old civil war is far from over.