Territory still controlled by the Islamic State group in Raqa is "the worst place" in Syria, the UN said Thursday, as fresh reports emerged of more civilians killed by US-led coalition air strikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 21 children were among at least 59 civilians killed since Monday in the air strikes aimed at dislodging the jihadists from Raqa. "The worst place probably today in Syria is the part of Raqa that is still held by the so-called Islamic state," the UN's humanitarian pointman for Syria, Jan Egeland, told reporters in Geneva. The UN estimates there are up to 25,000 civilians trapped inside Raqa, the jihadist group's erstwhile de facto Syrian capital.
"They are encircled by the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) fighters and they are used seemingly as human shields by the Islamic State," Egeland added, noting the "constant air raids" by the US-led coalition.