US airstrikes hit IS positions in Syria

DAMASCUS - The US-led anti-terror coalition struck positions of the Islamic State (IS) in northern and eastern Syria earlier on Wednesday, the state news agency SANA reported.

The US-led coalition carried out multiple airstrikes against the IS positions in the eastern city of Bukamal, near the Iraqi borders, and in the vicinity of the predominantly Kurdish city of Ain al-Arab, or Kobani, in the northern province of Aleppo, on the borders with Turkey.

There are no immediate report on the losses caused by the strikes.

The IS has recently made sweeping progress in the vicinity of Kobani, capturing Kurdish towns, and displacing thousands of Syrian Kurds, who sought refuge in Turkey, amid an international outcry to end the suffering of the Kurds in Kobani.

On Tuesday, the US military and its Arab allies debuted airstrikes against IS positions in Syria's northern province of al- Raqqa and the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, the Pentagon said.

Activists said tens of radical rebels were killed during the first day of airstrikes, including leaders of the radical militant groups.

Syria responded by announcing that it was informed ahead of the attacks, adding that the administration of President Bashar al- Assad stood by any international effort to eradicate the "terrorist groups" from the country.